Lightning Returns - Where I Belong
by AstoniaCrest
Summary: Post in-game epilogue, where Lightning lived again with a new beginning following from the destruction of Fabula Nova Crystallis. Built upon the assumption that since Claire has been released, Lightning lives a more carefree life, allowing feelings for a particular brunette that she had not discovered previously be discovered. [May contain spoilers] Update: To Be Continued!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Before you start cursing me on my other unfinished stories if you're one of the readers following them, I'd like to say that the other stories will still be continued now that this was done, although I'll still probably be slow in updating the other two stories due to my very, very hectic and packed schedule. I seriously squeeeeezed my time out for this because I really wanted to write an ending to LR in the way I depicted it, so hopefully you'd enjoy reading this!**

 **I wrote this chapter based on Yiruma's "Promise - Piano Solo" and "Spring Rain", so a music suggestion for you to listen to while you read it!**

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Lightning Returns – Where I Belong

Chapter 1

 _This journey is over now…_

As the train came to a complete halt, Lightning waited for the sliding door of the train to open before stepping off the train and onto the platform at a station in White Castle Village. She stopped after a few steps and let the warm spring breeze caress her cheeks and pink fringe, all the while enjoying the warm sunlight as she lifted her face towards the sky with her eyes closed.

 _I wonder when the next will begin._

Lightning inhaled the familiar smell of the village where she now lives in, and a hand came up to brush her bangs to the side as she opened her eyes to look at the place where she now belongs to. Her cerulean eyes roamed the quiet village as it basked in the warm sunlight, then her eyes fell on a celestial light coursing through the blue sky.

 _I only know that soon, we'll be together._

A smile came to grace the pinkette's lips as she thought of seeing her friends again soon. Then, Lightning went to her car parked at the train station's car park. Upon sighting her crimson red Rapide S, she gave a gentle smile spotting her favourite car. It may sound silly to some, but to Lightning, she liked giving names to the things that she appreciates, things that she likes, and to things that would remind her of a fond memory. The things that mattered to Lightning's heart will be given its unique name. As she approached her favourite car in a confident stride, her smile grew seeing that her car was doing alright after having parked here for about a month. Lightning mentally noted to thank the guard who was responsible for the security of the train station, as before she left she spoke to the guard and requested him to help keep an eye on the car.

"Glad to see you again, Odin." Lightning said fondly as she reached the car named Odin, which the name originated from her eidolon in the previous universe of Nova Chrysalia. Odin, her capable companion for the past thousands years in the realm of Nova Chrysalia, had supported her well in all the battles faced against various kinds of enemies. Without Odin by her side, Lightning figured that perhaps she would have already died in some of the tougher battles she engaged in. Lightning still remembered vividly the memories of fighting alongside Odin, the way the wind brushed by her skin when Odin carried her on his back, running with a speed no other steed in the world could compare to. Even when he was a chocobo, his speed was still stunningly fast compared to all other chocobos, giving more time for Lightning to complete more quests that were on her mission list. Now, she no longer had Odin by her side, and she had no way of knowing where Odin may possibly be at after being reborn into this New World that they have together fought to obtain from Bhunivelze, perhaps he would be a mortally human, or perhaps he could still be a heavenly knight, but there was no way to know any of this. The only other way for Lightning to remind herself of Odin's precious existence was her crimson Rapide S with white interior decorated with golden linings, with a speed that was considerably to be the most matching to what Odin had provided to Lightning in the past.

After unlocking the car by scanning her thumb print, she opened the door and smoothly slipped into her comfortable driver seat and placed her baggage on the passenger seat next to the driver's seat. Once she was settled, she pressed a button to ignite the engine and allowed the car to warm itself up before attempting to start driving, even though Lightning missed her home she wouldn't risk wrecking Odin up. Since she had a few minutes to spare, she took out her phone from the side pocket of her bag and swiped at the lock screen to unlock the phone. Her eyes dropped to the call button and she lightly tapped on it to reveal a log of numbers with symbols indicating incoming or outgoing phone calls. Lightning's thumb tapped on the 'favourite' tab and revealed two numbers, of which one belonged to Serah. She swiped at the number that belonged to Serah's and then placed her phone against her ear, listening to the sound of the line connecting to the other party as she waited patiently for her little sister to pick up, although usually Lightning won't have to wait long until-

"Claire!" A high pitched voice cut through the beeping sound into Lightning's phone, "Are you back?" Serah asked excitedly, her voice telling that she had missed her big sister big time.

Lightning managed a chuckle even though the high pitch from the younger Farron hurt her ears just a little bit, but she was also happy to hear Serah's excited welcome-home-spirit. "Yes, Serah, I've just arrived at the train station." She replied with a smile.

"Oh good, I'm glad to know that. Will you be coming over now?" Serah asked, her voice hinting a smile.

Lightning briefly shook her head as if the younger Farron could see her, "No, I'll be heading home first. Perhaps I'll come over for dinner."

Serah smiled into her phone at the response, "I was going to get you to come to dinner since you said you won't be coming over now, but I guess you just saved my effort." Her tone changed from one of threat to satisfaction.

A soft chuckle escaped from the pinkette's lips, she wasn't sure if she should faked fear or just laugh at the younger woman's attempt at trying to sound threatening. A smile graced her lips as she continued, "I guess you've me to thank for."

"I do suppose I can thank you with some of your… favourite chocolate tart with a strawberry on top?" Serah said mischievously, hinting her amusement at the older, oblivious Farron.

Just as what Serah thought, Lightning was indeed still oblivious to that mischievous tone of the younger pinkette as she responded with genuine innocence to her sister's offer of her favourite dessert, one whole month without a slice of it was getting its toll on her. "Yes please, I'd love to have some after such a long time. Nowhere else I could get that dangerously delicious tart of yours. Makes me wonder what you put in it."

Serah laughed at her sister's innocent response, it was adorable that Lightning was oblivious, but still extremely funny to her that the usually sharp Lightning Farron couldn't notice the wittiness in her tone as well as the feelings displayed by a certain someone, and also her own feelings for that certain someone. Perhaps Lightning was just really dense in things like these. "Alright Claire, I promise you that you'd get more than just a slice." Serah replied with a warm smile. After so many events that happened in the past, it was pure gold – or perhaps more than gold – that she and Lightning would be talking to each other in such a relaxed manner and could talk about life's little titbits which may be mundane and unimportant. They have truly gone through a lot of trials, and now the fruit of what they have sown in the previous universe is truly sweet and enjoyable for every single one of them, and they couldn't be more grateful and appreciate every single moment they have with each other. Lightning especially, deserved the happiness that she had finally unlocked from within herself in this world, and Serah was oh so glad that she could be here witnessing and share the joy of her sister's happy return.

"Alright, you promised, Serah." Lightning smiled into her phone.

"Yes Claire, I always keep my promises, just like you did." Serah responded warmly as she recalled how Lightning had risked through everything just so she could save her soul. Without Lightning's determination and perseverance, perhaps she wouldn't be here anymore.

Lightning smiled in response, "Good, I'm ecstatic over the idea of devouring that chocolate tart." She said, not knowing what could be deciphered differently by the others.

Even though Serah knew Lightning didn't mean anything beyond pure innocence, she still couldn't help but blushed lightly at the statement made by her sister. This was a problem occurring only to those who knew secrets that the others don't. "R-Right. Oh, and I was going to tell you that everyone else will be coming over for dinner too."

Lightning's eyebrows arched with surprise at the mention of 'everyone' and strangely, her heartbeat seemed to have increased a tad for a reason that she didn't know exactly what. And what was even stranger was that she felt like she missed something that caused the increased heartbeat. She didn't know this in advance. "Oh? That's rather sudden, you didn't tell me anything about it."

Serah giggled at the surprise evident in the other woman's voice, "Of course I didn't tell you anything about this, I just suddenly decided to invite everyone over and trust me, they won't say no to a gathering."

An amused smile crept up to Lightning's face, "That's very… spontaneous of you." She commented.

The younger Farron gave a thoughtful shrug and hummed at the comment, "After living a life where time is precious and anything can be lost at anytime, spontaneity has seem to become a trait of mine now. Why wait and risk losing it since you don't know what the future may hold when you can get it now, right?"

Lightning's amused smile turned into a full understanding smile at that statement, she couldn't agree more with Serah as well. "Right, I agree." She responded and then took a glimpse at the time displayed in her car's dashboard, which read 10:48am. They have been talking for about five minutes now. "And Serah? I think I'll have to go now, I'll see you tonight at your place, okay?"

Serah hummed thoughtfully, "Sure Claire, I'll see you tonight then. Bye!"

"Bye." Lightning said with a smile as she pulled her phone away from her ear and placed the phone in its designated spot. Now that Odin had warmed up adequately, she put her gear to 'Drive' and began easing out of the parking slot. Lightning drove slowly while she was still at the car park, afraid that someone might suddenly walk out onto the road. When she reached the exit, she slipped the car window right beside her seat down to thank the guard before heading off.

The crimson car cruised smoothly along the road at average speed as there weren't any cars at the moment and Lightning wasn't in a rush, so she had chosen to drive leisurely and took her time enjoying the view of the village that she now lives in. Along the way, there were many green patches of fields that were comfortable to the eyes, and many houses that were built along the way as the population in this village increased bit by bit each year. As she drove further, she passed by a beautiful lake with woods surrounding the serene, crystal bluish green lake. Lightning slowed her car down as she took in the sight of the lake that was even more beautiful in the day when the sun shone down, bringing it a breathtaking kind of glittering view as the lake reflected the sunlight. Ever since she started living here a year ago, Lightning had always loved the view of the lake and would take her time viewing the lake whenever she passed by, feeling her memories of when she lived in Bodhum welled up in her mind's eye. Now that she was living in a village with no sea in close proximity, the lake was the only substitute to Lightning's fond memory of the sea back in Bodhum. As the journey back home continued, the lake slowly disappeared in sight and Lightning sped up again as she resumed her full attention on the road.

After approximately 45 minutes of driving, Lightning entered into a neighbourhood with fewer houses around and more trees in the surrounding. Then, she took a turn that led her up a small hill and a bit deeper into what one would call the woods. Even though a lot of trees surrounded Lightning's home, the drive from the main road to her place was short; hence the view of the village at the near bottom was still visible from Lightning's residence. The pinkette had chosen this particular spot as her home due to two reasons: she liked it where she could be slightly above the neighbourhood where she could oversee the place in which she lives in to simply enjoy the view and sometimes look out for danger, and also because it was a bit further in from the rest of the residencies that gave her the peace and solitary silence which she preferred. As her house came into sight, she slowed her car down and then turned into a spot where she parked her car and came to a complete stop smoothly by easing the brake gently over time. Once she had stopped her car, she turned her engine off and grabbed her bag before leaving her car and locking it. Lightning then turned to admire the view of the neighbourhood shortly before heading for her home.

Lightning took the keys to her house's door out of her front pocket and then slid it into the lock. Once the key was all in, she turned it to the right until she heard a _click_ that indicated that the door had been unlocked. Now that the door was unlocked, Lightning turned on the knob and pushed her way into her house. She reached a hand out to the left and turned on a light to light the dim room, and then proceeded to closing the door behind her. Once she was finally in, Lightning looked around the house that she lives in alone to note if there were any changes. When she was satisfied with things staying just as they have been before she went on her trip, she let out a relieved smile and headed inside to place her bag down.

Just as she placed her bag down, a knock came from the door. Lightning turned towards the door with an arched, curious eyebrow, wondering who could be here just right when she was back. She went over to the door and then opened it to reveal a brown bag jutting out right at her face by the visitor. Mildly taken by surprise, Lightning's eyes widened and her mouth went slightly agape at the sight. The brown bag was then being retracted to reveal the face hidden behind it, "Hey Light, glad you're back." The person said with a happy grin upon seeing the pinkette.

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 **Kindly R &R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I wrote this chapter based on Yiruma's "Love", so a music suggestion for you to listen to while you read it!**

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Lightning Returns – Where I Belong

Chapter 2

Lightning swore she felt her heartbeat increased just a little bit again at the sight of the person that she was not expecting to see just when she got back – Fang. The pinkette blinked a couple times to make sure that it was indeed Fang that was standing at her front door. Fang, who was watching every tiny bit of twitches and movements of the other woman's expression, chuckled at the mildly startled face. "Well, no hugs for an _old friend_ payin' a visit?" Fang's voice was smooth and hinted with humour.

That statement finally managed to make the pinkette chuckled and returned to her composed self. "That's such an old joke, Fang." Lightning commented with a smirk as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Fang's fine eyebrow arched at the reply, "Do you mean that the joke itself was outdated in the sense that we're _more than friends_?" She said with a – what Lightning saw it as – charming, yet teasing smile.

"W-What? No, I meant you have already told that joke back in the Dead Dunes when we first met, which is why saying it now makes it old." Lightning involuntarily blushed faintly at that statement and rolled her eyes as she watched the other woman laughed at her response, she knew of the teasing and mischievous nature of the brunette, but recently it had become difficult to simply brush those teases off. And it had become even more difficult to calm her slightly racing heart whenever she got to see the brunette day after day before she went for the trip. Yes, after Lightning and the others moved into the neighbourhood together a year ago, Fang had started to come visit more often months before her trip, and up till about two to three months before the trip, Fang had not only made it often but made a daily effort to pay her a visit in the evening and she would leave for her home that she shared with Vanille at night. Which was why Lightning found it curious to have someone at her door at this time, somewhere between 11 to 12 where usually nobody would come knocking at her door, and more particularly it was Fang that was here. The brunette never failed to turn up for their daily… bonding? That doesn't sound right. Hang out. That was the word. The two always made sure to have daily hang out sessions after Fang made often visits, although Fang put more effort into it by coming over while Lightning waited for her at home to drop by. And due to this – which Lightning found to be – unlikely _arrangement_ between the two, they have gotten much closer. Sure, they fought together and they clicked with each other simply because hers and Fang's problems were sort of the same in the sense that both their younger sisters were in trouble so they both understood each other well because of that, and that formed the base of their relationship. With that base there, the two made smooth progress from learning more about each others' interests and whatnot, thus bringing them closer to each other. For one that didn't particularly liked hanging around people, Lightning found Fang's presence to be surprisingly soothing and comforting to have, welcomed even if it was being turned into a daily meet up.

 _Like she was meant to be here…_ Lightning's mind stumbled across this thought unknowingly, and when she did realized, she found herself surprised at her own thought. _Why was I thinking like that?_ She questioned herself, confused.

Eyeing the faint frown evident on the pinkette's features as she stared on blankly, Fang made an attempt to pull Lightning out of an apparent reverie. "Hello? You alright Light?" She asked with concern hinted in her voice.

Upon hearing that, Lightning was being pulled back into reality and broke her train of thoughts as she regarded Fang, "Oh. Yes, yes I'm fine." She replied.

Fang smiled, "Good to know. So, fancy some pastries over coffee? I've got your favourite Pain Au Choc aaaand" the brunette lifted a tray with two cups of coffee, "Long black here with me from that favourite coffee shop of yours." She said with a wink.

Lightning smiled warmly at the brunette's kind offerings, something about the way Fang remembered her preferences even without her telling the woman made her smile grew. The fact that Fang had observed and remembered her preferences was… heart-warming to Lightning in so many ways that the pinkette simply couldn't describe. Lightning knew though, that she was feeling rather – or exceptionally, although she wouldn't show it to the other – happy at the thought that Fang cared enough to remember. The brunette was just in time too as she started to feel her empty stomach churning slightly. "How I can reject an old friend, yes?" She said with a smile as she made way for the brunette to enter into her house.

Fang laughed, though Lightning could seem to hear there was a hint of disappointment in that smooth, lovely accented laugh. "An old friend, aye." She said with a half-hearted smile as she entered the house and then headed straight to the kitchen.

Lightning closed the door behind Fang and followed the brunette into the kitchen as well, and then she sat on a bar stool behind a counter as she watched Fang prepared the pastries for her on a plate. Somehow, seeing the other woman being so smooth in getting the utensils she needed and being so knowing of her house brought a sense of comfort to Lightning, and she enjoyed watching Fang worked in the kitchen _just for her_. It made Lightning happy, even though she didn't realized that she was happy right now, but she simply _loved_ watching Fang here in her house, acting as if she _lived_ here. While Fang was busy heating up the pastries, Lightning's mind wandered off again to ponder a the previous thought as she watched the brunette worked, and she couldn't help but be fond of the idea of Fang belonging here… although she wouldn't admit aloud, and she wouldn't dare materialise such a crazy thought. After all, Fang lived with Vanille the moment they were reborn into this world, and Fang surely wouldn't thought of living with her of course… right? Lightning thought to herself and then when Fang turned around midway and smiled when her emerald eyes met with her own cerulean ones, she hesitated and felt the thought of that idea being _crazy_ faltered. Suddenly, she just wanted Fang to be here, and the words slipped from Lightning's mouth as her urge went beyond her control while she daydreamed.

"You look like you belong here."

Fang looked at her with slight surprise as the words hit her ears, and then an amused smile graced her lips as she walked over to lean on the counter across from Lightning, "I've been here enough times to know where everything is, Light."

At that response, Lightning snapped back into reality from her daydream and held her head down then brought a hand up to press on her temples acting as a façade as she blushed embarrassedly at the slip of words that she just only realised, "R-Right, of course." _What has gotten into me?_ Lightning inwardly asked herself and again, her heart which was racing.

Fang on the other hand, had a slight bittersweet smile hanging off of her face as she replayed that sentence Lightning had just spoken in her head. _You look like you belong here_. Secretly, Fang wished she really did belong here… and she wished Lightning actually meant to make her feel that she belonged here. Although, knowing that Lightning was obviously still oblivious to her feelings – or hopefully she was indeed oblivious, Fang knew the pinkette probably didn't mean that at all.

Fang had liked Lightning since they got together for the first time while they were on Cocoon, the meeting with her was simply… interesting and it was one memory that she couldn't forget. The way she impressively fought her way through as her cascading champagne pink locks drew through the air with every flips and somersaults was simply a sight to behold. She liked Lightning as a friend back then, one that was strong and capable to fend off enemies coupled with the kind of determination that would go through hell for her sister was really attractive to Fang. Slowly, she developed feelings for the woman as they journeyed through the highs and lows together, and then bringing down Orphan made Fang felt that her feelings for the pinkette grew even stronger, as being able to see how Lightning could be gentle yet deadly made Fang fell for her, Lightning was the perfect lover Fang would want to be with. Although, not knowing that what would happen after Cocoon's fall, Fang chose to keep those feelings to herself and brought it to her crystal grave. When she finally woke up and then saw Lightning in the world's last days, she was too occupied with saving Vanille and had no time for anything that one would call romance. And even if Vanille was safe, Fang knew she wouldn't have confessed her feelings as well knowing that since Lightning was the saviour, the pinkette probably wouldn't have the time or even bat an eye about romance with only a handful of days left to battle against Bhunivelze to save Serah and guide the souls to the New World.

Now… Now they finally have all the time in the world with all threats gone for the moment, no urgencies that involved them, no rushing up and down, and most importantly, everyone was together again. But then…

As much as Fang loves Lightning, she couldn't bring herself to confess as she feared that the precious friendship between them might be destroyed if the pinkette didn't feel the same for her. Yes, Fang was afraid when it came to someone as precious as Lightning, the woman that she had had feelings for for the past 1013 years. Although she doubted that Lightning would just up and withdraw herself from being friends with her, but surely, the pinkette would most probably keep a distance between them and that, Fang didn't fancy it one bit. Besides, Fang did sent constant hints at the pinkette but which were apparently either being dismissed by Lightning due to disinterest – Fang hoped AND prayed hard that this was not the case – or the woman simply didn't get her message hence, no response, which the lack of clarity as to what the pinkette felt towards her was unclear thus making Fang's confidence waver. That was why even though Fang really loved Lightning, she wouldn't dare take the step even if Vanille called her a coward. It was better not to confess and remain as best friends than to really losing a best friend if she confessed and Lightning didn't receive that confession well.

Suddenly, a beeping sound sounded which caught both Fang's and Lightning's attention, effectively drawing them both back into the reality from their realm of thoughts. Fang's eyes fell on the oven that emitted the beeping sound, indicating that heating was done. The brunette walked back over to the oven and opened the cover, then grabbed a pair of steel kitchen tongs to take the now heated pastries and placed them down on clean plates. Fang then took up the plates and went over to the counter where Lightning was seated and placed the plate with the pinkette's dessert right in front while the other placed across from the pinkette. Then the brunette slid out a drawer to grab two pairs of utensils and brought over the two cups of coffee that were left on another counter over to the counter where they will have their pastries. Once she was at the counter again, Fang handed out a pair of fork and knife over to the pinkette in which Lightning responded with a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Fang."

"Not a problem Light. Enjoy your dessert." Fang responded with a wide smile as she took a stool over and sat on it.

Lightning nodded, "I sure will."

Fang smiled in response and the two started eating their pastries quietly. Lightning took a bite of her Pain Au Choc and to her surprise, she felt that it tasted slightly… different. Something sweet yet mildly sour was in her Pain Au Choc. The pinkette then looked down at her pastry to find that there was a lining of finely chopped strawberries in the chocolate filling. Finding this really surprising, Lightning looked up from her pastry and to Fang who was drinking a sip of coffee, and her eyes automatically fell at the brunette's exposed throat that appeared to be very, very attractive to Lightning all of a sudden, as if she was a vampire. When Fang was done taking her sip, her head returned to its natural position again and her eyes levelled with those of Lightning's staring cerulean. As Lightning's eyes met with Fang's, she immediately dropped her eyes back down and her cheeks felt hot at her guilty doing – just like a kid getting caught stealing a cookie, the only differences here were Lightning was an adult, and she was stealing a sight.

Fortunately for Lightning, Fang didn't catch those mildly reddening cheeks. "What's the matter? Why did you stop eating? Is something wrong?" Fang asked with a concerned look.

Lightning cleared her throat softly to regain her composure before she looked up at Fang again to start, "No, nothing's wrong… It's just… Did you really buy this from Acacia's Coffee House?" She asked Fang with genuine curiosity. The last time she ate a Pain Au Choc from that coffee house Lightning remembered quite clearly that there wasn't a lining of strawberries in it, unless her memories suddenly started failing her but then again a month away was nothing too long to incur a memory loss from the lack of contact, or maybe the coffee house suddenly just decided to change its fillings.

Looking at the dumbfounded look on the pinkette's face, Fang couldn't help but allow a chuckle to escape. She was pretty sure what Lightning meant by those lines. "Yes, these are really from Acacia's, they well…" Fang paused halfway as her eyes rolled to the right, "Decided to make some changes to the fillings of Pain Au Choc while you're away. I think they added strawberries in, yea?" The brunette asked with a faked curious accent.

Lightning made a silent 'oh' and then a satisfied hum followed behind. Clearly she was convinced with the reasoning given by Fang. "Yes, they did."

"Do you like it?" Fang asked with what seemed like mild anticipation to Lightning, but the pinkette didn't thought too much about it.

"No." Lightning replied with a straight face.

Fang immediately froze in her seat upon hearing that reply, a shocked expression plastered on her face. Oh Maker, should she have not done this instead in the first place…? Fang thought to herself inwardly, a thousand minis of her running in her brain on red alert status.

"I love it." Lightning said as she slowly broke into a wide, warm, and genuinely happy smile.

Again, Fang froze. Although, it was for an entirely different reason: Lightning's lovely smile. How can she look so stunning, Fang wondered? It took every ounce of strength and discipline for the brunette not to outright grab the pinkette and melt into a tight embrace. Once her senses finally kicked back in, she grinned in response, "I'm glad you love it, Sunshine."

Lightning arched an eyebrow at the nickname which was apparently directed at her, "Sunshine?"

Fang nodded, her grin never leaving. "Sunshine." She repeated with a toothy grin.

Seeing that grin on Fang, Lightning felt her eyes glued to that adorable smile, which prompted an amused smile of her own. "Is that supposed to be my nickname?" She asked with a mixture of a frown and an amused smile.

Fang nodded again, her wide smile have not faltered one bit. "Yep, it suits you. A lot." She commented with a wink.

Lightning's eyebrow arched even more at that comment, curious as to why the brunette suddenly landed on that nickname. "And why is that?"

The brunette shrugged at the question, a teasing smile appeared as a thoughtful hum sounded, "Not telling you, Sunshine."

Lightning rolled her eyes, although the look on her face was more towards amused than frustration over not knowing what the reason was. And surprisingly, she was not feeling too bothered about the nickname given by the other woman. If it was in the past… maybe, just maybe she would snap at Fang and get her to call her by her real name. Now though, after going through so much of hardships, Lightning felt that she had opened up so much more and her mindset had adjusted to be less tensed than before. It was understandable, considering that previously Lightning had been constantly on the go so she had to be on her toes at all times, and when someone's nerves got too tight, it was never a surprise that crankiness kicked in – it was natural. "You won't get away with hiding it for too long, Fang." Lightning smirked.

"Oh? How would you _make_ me tell yer?" Fang said, flashing her toothy, confident grin as her emerald eyes dropped to a predator's gaze when she smelled a challenge of some sort from the pinkette.

Lightning shrugged, "I'll think of something, you know I won't let you get off the hook that easily." The pinkette replied as her smirk grew.

Fang laughed in response, "Of course, of course, the great Lightning Farron had such a terrific legend to preserve, ey?"

A soft chuckle sounded from the pinkette, "Now that's all in the past."

A thoughtful nod came from Fang, "I s'posed you have already got your fair share of battles in _one_ lifetime." She said with a chuckle, glee underlying her voice.

"Aren't you just the same?" The pinkette responded with a smirk.

"I s'pose so, but I'd never get tired of combating. Once a huntress, always a huntress for me." The brunette said as she put on a proud smile.

"Just make sure you aren't hunting down the wrong stuffs again." The pinkette said as her smirk grew while she took a sip of her coffee.

Fang shivered at the reminder, "It's a bit difficult to tell from the dark and when you're in a new environment you get a bit jumpy at times."

"And also a bit violent?" Lightning added on with a knowing smile, now she knew why the others loved teasing the other, it was fun teasing the brunette.

Fang gave her a pointed look, "I thought it was a gorgornopsid for Maker's sake, I was only being on the safe side." She said with a huff as she took another bite of her strawberry custard puff.

That earned a soft laugh from the pinkette, which sounded so much like music to Fang's ears. "Well, it's a good thing nothing happened to that poor dog."

A smile graced Fang's lips as a returning gesture to Lightning's soft, gentle laugh. "Yea I guess so. So, how was your trip, Light?" She asked.

A thoughtful look appeared on the pinkette's face at the question posed by the brunette, "It was overall alright, managed to settle the things that needed to be done. It was quite enjoyable now that I've got the time to truly enjoy the view."

Fang nodded as a response, "That's good to hear, time well spent for you."

"How about you? Anything happened for the past 1 month when I was away?" Lightning asked as she took another bite of her pastry.

A shrug came from Fang, "Nothing much going on, everybody pretty much do the things that they always did, except for some occasional whining coming from Serah on how she misses you." She smiled as she watched the corners of Lightning's lips twitched upwards. "But maybe soon I'll be able to tell you more interesting stuffs."

Lightning arched a curious eyebrow at the woman, "Why do you say so?"

Fang finished the last of her dessert and swallowed it before she began, "Aren't you curious why am I here this early in the day?" She asked with a smile.

Lightning shrugged, "I thought you _missed_ me." The sentence came out smooth and innocent, it was purely an innocent joke whereby Lightning meant the friendship kind of miss, but to Fang, it sure sounded like it was a different thing.

"Err…" Fang stuttered a little, suddenly feeling her cheeks burned slightly at the statement. Shifting a little, she tried to hide her mild nervousness by laughing it off, "You're so confident, Light. Actually, I'll be leaving around early evening for an expedition that will be taking place at a new area, which is why I'm here right now knowing that you'd be back today." Fang explained.

A surprised frown flashed across Lightning's features, "I… see. How long will you be away?"

Fang held her chin with a hand as she assumed a thinking face, "Hmm… Probably about one week or two weeks max. It's just something like a scouting activity, but they do need capable people to tag along just in case there was trouble."

Lightning bit the inside of her lower lip and slowly nodded her head as she remained silent for a brief moment. After hearing that, something inside her, perhaps a gut feeling, told her to ask the following question, "Must you… go?" She asked, unknowing as to why she asked this question, but it felt like something was bothering her, like something was going to happen and that Lightning wished that Fang didn't have to go.

The brunette tilted her head slightly to the side as a smirk came up alongside an arched, seemingly amused eyebrow, "That almost sounded like… you're already missing me, Sunshine." She said teasingly as her eyes twinkled at the idea that the pinkette may actually wished that she didn't have to go.

A frown appeared upon hearing that, Lightning was being serious at this point but yet the other simply liked to tease too much. "Stop playing around, I'm asking you a question." She said sternly.

Hearing that solemn voice, it made Fang straightened herself a tad and cleared her throat before she started, "I can't don't go, Light. I've already been paid half the amount and it's too late to call it quit with only a few hours left before we leave."

Lightning looked away from Fang's eyes and down at her half eaten pastry, where she had stopped eating entirely when she heard the other woman mentioned about her expedition. Deep down, she really hoped that Fang didn't have to go, this gut feeling about something bad happening was very, very strong to the extent where Lightning wished she could make Fang stay somehow. It was a feeling like she was afraid that… she might lose Fang. "Is there… anything that would make you stay and not go?" She asked with a soft, somewhat desperate voice, causing Fang to widen her eyes with surprise at the apparently weak display.

Fang scratched the back of her head and bit her lower lip at the difficult position that she was currently in, seeing how Lightning acted this way right now made her feel like saying an unlimited times of yes she would stay and tell the pinkette that she alone could make her stay. Yet, she was still afraid and unsure of how Lightning might react to a sudden confession, and the fact that the expedition was only hours away from departing stopped her from giving the pinkette a 'yes I'd stay for you'. The team that Fang was going on an expedition this time with were many of Fang's younger apprentices that she had taken in over the course of a year, she had given them her assurance that she would be taking care of them in their very first expedition thus they were allowed to join the expedition, which was why quitting right now was not an option. She simply had responsibilities with her that she had to follow through. "I… I can't, I've got to go this time. I've to keep my word to those kids." She said with a small sigh.

"There are kids going on this expedition…?" Lightning asked with an incredulous expression.

Looking at the face Lightning was making, Fang couldn't help but laugh a little at the woman's amusing look. "I mean, you see, I've lived like… 10 centuries, so doesn't that make those younger ones like 18 to 20s kids to me? I'm technically an old hag by now, though not literally."

That earned an eye roll from the pinkette, and she thought at first that the brunette _really_ meant kids were tagging along expeditions nowadays. "If you follow the present chronology, which means you're only 24 right now, not a thousand years old." She said with a deadpanned expression.

Fang chuckled, "Oh c'mon, it makes sense if you think it this way: a thousand years old soul trapped in a young body."

Another roll of her eyes ensued, "Right." She simply muttered. Lightning was once again silent and so was Fang when she saw the pinkette silently assumed a faint frown. With a small sigh, Lightning began again, "Well… Be very careful out there, Fang." She said with a genuinely concerned tone accompanied by a worried frown.

Eyeing that worried look, Fang only smiled reassuring, "Hey, don't worry, you're talking to the Great Oerba Yun Fang from Gran Pulse here. I can handle anything being thrown at me, I'll be alright." The brunette said in a soothing and comforting tone, hoping that the assurance Fang was trying to instil in Lightning could reach across.

Lightning finally let a small smile graced her lips as the assurance seeped into her head, "I know, the Great Oerba Yun Fang that mistook a dog as a gorgornopsid." She said with a chuckle while the other woman rolled her eyes at the joke. When the chuckle died down, Lightning started again solemnly, "I know you're capable, just make sure you take extra care of yourself this time around. I… I just have a bad feeling about this." She admitted honestly with a small frown as she looked away.

Suddenly, Fang got up from her high stool making a screeching sound that caught Lightning's attention, causing her to turn her eyes back to where Fang was now standing and leaning over the counter as she placed a hand on her shoulder to give a reassuring, gentle squeeze. "I'll take good care of myself, Light, I promise." She said with a confident smile.

Lightning looked into Fang's confident and reassuring emerald eyes and gave a smile in response, indicating her trust in the brunette. "Good." She said as her hand came up and rested on Fang's wrist, giving her a gentle grip.

Fang's confident smile turned into a warm one, "And I promise I'll be back in two weeks' time, then we can hang out again with pastries over coffee or tea, yea?" She said with a grin followed by a wink.

Lightning's smile widened a tad, "You better keep your word." She said with a jokingly threatening tone as she removed her hand from Fang's.

"Have I ever broken a promise to you?" Fang said with mocked hurt as she retracted her hand and sat back down in her seat.

Lightning gave it some thought, "No, you haven't, so you better keep your record clean."

"Or else the Saviour might abandon me?" Fang teased with a grin.

Lightning threw a faked glare over to the other woman, "Worse." She said with as a corner of her lips twitched upwards.

Fang snickered, "I'm afraid that I won't get to know what that is, because I'll keep my promise to you, Light. How about a pinky promise?" She said with a wide grin as she held up her hand with her pinky jutting out while the rest of her fingers curled into her palm.

Lightning eyed that pinky with an arched eyebrow, "No." She said as she crossed her arms.

"Why not?" Fang asked curiously, a confused expression plastered on her face.

"I'm not a kid." Lightning simply responded.

Fang laughed at the statement, "You don't have to be a kid to make a pinky promise, Light. Come on, I'll pinky promise you that I'd be back in no time." She held out her hand further towards the other woman as she donned her best puppy-eyes look.

Lightning eyed that finger a little while more before she succumbed to Fang's puppy eyes looking at her, "Fine." She said with mild resistance hinting, although a smile appeared as their pinkies intertwined with each other.

Fang wiggled their intertwined pinkies slightly with a satisfied grin, "I've just created another legend, Lightning Farron actually makes pinky promises!"

Lightning frowned and blushed slightly as she wriggled her pinky away from Fang's and held her hand close to herself, "Don't you dare tell the others or else…"

"Or else…?" Fang repeated teasingly after the pinkette.

"Or else I'll keep bugging you about how you mistook a dog as a gorgornopsid and spread it out in the morning news." Lightning said with a solemn expression as she crossed her arms in a dominating manner.

Fang's eyes widened with shock and her mouth went agape, "You wouldn't…"

Lightning nodded curtly, "Oh yes I will, Fang. Try me." She said with a smirk.

The brunette let out a puff of irritated air, "I swear sometimes you're evil."

Lightning merely shrugged at the statement, "I never said I'm not evil." Her smirk only grew as she saw that look on Fang's face.

"You've really brushed up your skills, Farron." Fang said as she narrowed her eyes to slits, dissatisfied that she had lost in this banter.

The pinkette made a triumphant look and bowed her head slightly towards Fang, "I couldn't have done it without you, _master_." She said with mocked gratefulness.

That earned an eye roll and a snicker from the brunette, "Just you wait, Sunshine, I'd come back at you ten times stronger." She said as she flashed her canines at the other woman.

"I'll be waiting, patiently." Lightning responded with a confident smile, in which Fang returned the gesture. Then, they both continued to talk about other matters and whatnot until Fang's departure.

* * *

 **Kindly R &R!**


	3. Chapter 3

Lightning Returns – Where I Belong

Chapter 3

As she got closer to the front porch, she could already hear the loud chattering coming from within. Among the loud noises, she could hear a familiar rough voice that caused the house to shake with laughter, and she couldn't help but shook her head with a smile. _Some things never change_. Lightning thought to herself as she went up the front porch and pressed on the doorbell.

With just only three seconds, the door was swung open and it revealed the younger Farron. And needless to say, the younger pinkette was beaming with happiness and her smile went as big as it could the moment she saw her sister. In a split second, Serah was already up and jumped at her elder sister for a very, very tight embrace. "Welcome back, Claire!" She literally squealed for the words that were coming out of her mouth.

Lightning was thankfully ready for this embrace and she had managed to stabilise herself when the younger Farron jumped onto her, she returned the embrace and tried to loosen the small yet surprisingly strong arms circling around her neck that was quite effectively cutting off oxygen from her, "I-I'm back, Serah. Please l-let me go a little bit… can't breathe." She struggled for her words to be out.

"Oh, I'm sorry Claire." She said with a sheepish smile as she loosened her grip and slipped off of Lightning. "I just miss you so much." She said with a warm smile.

Lightning returned the gesture, "I miss you too Serah." She said as she went in to gently hug the younger woman.

Serah returned the gesture, gently this time instead of strangling the other. "I'm so glad you're back." She said with a smile.

Just when the two broke apart from the sisterly embrace, the loud thundering voice from the living room entered into the hallway and immediately stepped up towards them. "Sis you're back!" He roared with glee as he welcomed the pinkette back with open arms.

Lightning smiled at the blonde as he approached and gave her a hug, which she responded in return. "Yes, Snow, I'm back so that I can keep an eye on you to make sure you don't mistreat Serah."

Snow pulled back immediately and a shocked expression was plastered on his face, "No way will I EVER mistreat my wife!" He said as he pulled Serah into a protective and precious embrace, causing the younger Farron to giggle at the action.

Lightning snickered at the sight, "I know big guy, just kidding. If you do…" She inched forward slightly as her gaze turned into a dangerous stare, "Remember that I was a soldier and a knight, and now… I'm a doctor, so I know exactly how to use knives to my advantage not to simply kill but to torture and then kill." She ended with a very, very, _very_ threatening smile.

Snow gulped as he felt chills running down his back. Even though he had never and will never do anything to harm his beautiful wife, it was still difficult not to fear the awfully dangerous aura being emitted from his sister-in-law. "S-Sure sis, I sure remember that." He said with a shaky smile all the while clutching onto a still giggling Serah for dear life.

The pinkette's threatening aura lifted almost immediately and she resumed to her normal posture, "Is everybody here already?" She asked her sister.

Serah nodded, "Yes everyone's here except Fang…" She trailed off slightly as she eyed the other woman's expression carefully.

"I see, then let's get inside, I'm already late." Lightning said with a small smile.

Serah stopped Lightning in her tracks, "Wait- You don't seem surprised…?" She asked.

Lightning cocked her head to a side as a questioning eyebrow rose, "Why should I be?"

"Oh, erm… I thought since you and Fang always seemed to hang out together you'd ask why she isn't here tonight." Serah said with a sheepish smile.

The pinkette made a thoughtful look upon hearing that, "I already know that she won't be coming tonight, we were together earlier this afternoon." She explained.

The younger Farron made a long 'oh' as realisation fell in, and then a grin immediately replaced the 'o' shape. "That was fast." She said, indicating more towards Fang.

Lightning arched a quizzical eyebrow at the statement, "What do you mean?" She asked, clearly clueless.

Again, Serah giggled at her sister's denseness, "Nothing, it doesn't mean anything. Let's go in, everyone's waiting!" The younger Farron gently tugged Lightning along by the arm and into the house where everybody else have been waiting.

Lightning was immediately greeted by a whole lot of other visitors in the living room, where many of NORA's members made a rowdy welcome at the pinkette while the ex-L'cies made a gentler, softer, yet of course warmer welcome. The two groups of people which now Lightning had become closely acquainted with were obviously distinctively different in terms of behaviour, but after coming onto better terms with Snow, Lightning had managed to handle the rowdier group's antics and could manage to be on good terms with everyone. They weren't bad at all if Lightning was honest, but perhaps they were a bit loud for Lightning's liking, considering that the pinkette preferred some peace and quietness to herself being a bit of an introvert to a certain degree. Besides, they were Snow's best pals, it wouldn't do well to her and Serah's relationship if she didn't sit right with them. After having learnt so many lessons in life, she knew when it was alright to just let go and not to be so uptight any longer. They do make up a pretty good support team if any situation was to arise, and when you need them, just a word and they would already be at your back thus this, made Lightning nod her head of approval.

The pinkette went and sat closer to the familiar group that she had once travelled miles with. Upon sitting down, she was first greeted by Sazh and Dajh who were sitting on the couch next to her then followed by her once young apprentice that she had taken under her wing, Hope. Vanille was the next to make a bubbly greeting to which Lightning responded with a smile. They talked to each other casually though it was mostly the redhead posing questions to the pinkette and she would be replying to the loads of them while the other two mostly listened whereas Dajh played with his chocobo plush toy and paid the adults' conversation no mind. At the end of it, Lightning's throat was already feeling dry from answering the barrage of questions directed at her and she had to put Vanille on pause mode as she strode over into the kitchen to get a glass of water for herself. She turned to lean against a kitchen counter top as she watched the activity continue from where she stood and her eyes fell onto the young couple, namely Hope and Vanille, who were seated at another couch placed perpendicularly to the couch that she and Sazh were sitting on. Lightning watched Hope passed a glass of water over to Vanille with a gentle smile while the redhead gladly received the glass and thanked him with a quick peck on his cheeks, making him blush lightly. Watching the duo, she felt a certain hole in her heart, as if she felt that something inside her was missing from witnessing the scene unfolded before her. Lightning shook her head and dismissed the feeling, then she looked onto the others who were all apparently paired up with someone to spend the time with – Serah with Snow, Hope with Vanille, Sazh with Dajh, Lebreau with Gadot, and Yuj with Maqui. The only one that was alone at this point was her, and she couldn't help but felt like she missed something dearly. Sure, the rest were talking to her and kept inviting her into their conversations, but Lightning felt like she missed talking to a _certain someone_. The certain someone that would always be the one by her side and talking mostly to her, the one that Lightning knew had topics in common to talk about and the one that Lightning would always automatically go to and chat up something in a gathering together.

She… missed Fang. The certain someone, that always showed up next to her and would smile up at her as she talked with her melodic voice. The certain someone, that would show up at her door each day and spend time with her. The certain someone, that Lightning would more than often thought of in the midst of doing something other than Serah.

That certain someone was Fang. And even though it still didn't make much sense to her, Lightning realised that she really did miss the brunette already even though she had just only spent some time with her this afternoon. Somewhere deep in her heart, she silently wished for Fang to return soon even though it had only been a few hours after her departure.

XXX

Meeting up with Fang daily had become such an enjoyable daily activity that Lightning looked forward to, and now that Fang had gone elsewhere, she started to feel that there was this hole in her heart left unfulfilled whenever there wasn't a knock on the door at the time when the brunette usually arrived. Looking up at the clock hanging against the wall above the fireplace that read 5.08pm, she let out a small sigh – probably the sixth time in the week due to the same reason – at the lack of presence, even though she knew that Fang would only be back in about another week's time. For the first week that had passed, Lightning had managed to busy herself in her work at the hospital that had piled up a whole lot during her absence. In the pinkette's room, which the door read Dr. Lightning Farron, the load of paper work was as high as a mountain when Lightning returned to her post, but with only 3 days into the first week of her return, the piles of paper work were gone and the now surgeon's table was left with a neat, clean surface with only a personal laptop, a working desktop, a few picture frames standing on the table and a tiny pot of blue daffodil near the corner as decorations, as well as a few patient files. For the first couple of days where she buried herself in her work, her mind had remained relatively focused and still, except for the moments when she returned home and waited for a knock on the door only to realise that there wouldn't be any until a week or two later that her mind wandered off slightly to Fang. When she was done with her work and there weren't any more that needed her attention, her mind then started to wander off even more often to the brunette during the times she spaced out while thinking about little things and whatnot, such as groceries and cooking dinner which usually involved Fang. Since the brunette came by often in the evenings, they would often have their dinners at Lightning's place and occasionally dine out. As such, her mind had automatically related to Fang when she thought about these small little things in her daily life.

The following days when she was on her off days at home, she spent her time doing the things she liked, from playing her favourite music on piano and guitar, reading medical books to brush up on her knowledge and skills, exploring new recipes, hitting the gym and the sandbag to keep in top shape, to visiting the Guardian Corps and her ex-Commander, Amodar. As much as she had tried to spend time on doing things to pass her time and keep her mind occupied, her mind would still never fail to wander off to how was the brunette doing and where was she at that point of time in between the tasks that she was on, and that only made her feel even more miserable considering that she had already been missing the woman. Even the beautiful lake that usually calmed the pinkette with its beautiful scenery couldn't help Lightning take Fang off of her mind, simply because of one very ridiculous, yet heart-warming memory to Lightning. How they once challenged each other into a silly game and ended up breaking someone's window, then Fang took her hand and started running away instead of apologising and once they stopped, they looked at each other panting and laughing uncontrollably, just like kids. That one time was where Lightning remembered she laughed the hardest, not when she was with Serah, but when she was with Fang. Thinking back on it, a smile came creeping up onto her face and recalling on the memory of Fang taking hold of her hand as they ran away made her heart fluttered slightly and she couldn't help but grinned and chuckled softly at the memory. But when she was done recalling that fond memory yet the brunette was nowhere to be found, Lightning felt herself suddenly missing Fang even more. Lightning had tried brushing it off more than once at the thought of missing Fang that much, but her mind simply wouldn't let her rest, and she wondered why all of a sudden there was this persistence that even she herself couldn't brush it off. And this was why Lightning Farron was sitting in her armchair now looking at the clock and sighing as her feeling of missing her best friend continued.

Into the latter half of the second week, Lightning was getting a bit more agitated at how time was passing by so slowly while she was at work as she unconsciously stared at the clock and then at her phone. Her desire to see Fang again at this point was driving her slightly edgy, to the extent that she had questioned herself as to why she was missing the brunette so much. Eyeing her phone, she wished she could get hold of the brunette through the phone but unfortunately the area that the brunette was in on that expedition had no lines supporting communication, which drove Lightning slightly mad when her calls wouldn't get through at all. Why was it so difficult to simply even talk to Fang right now? It would be nice if she could hear Fang's voice for her to cope a bit with her feeling of missing her. Tearing her eyes away from the phone, she sighed for the umpteenth time as she propped her head up on her hand, a finger from another hand tapping impatiently on her working desk as she was also waiting for a report to be sent into her office. When her finger tapping became too extreme to ignore, Lightning groaned at her building frustration at the long wait for both the report AND Fang, though it was more due to the woman rather than the report, which only served as an irritation boost to her thinning patience spent waiting for Fang. She got up from her seat and put on her white doctor coat as she stepped out of her room and headed straight towards the MRI room, earning a few fearful stares due to the dark frown on the pinkette's face as she passed by the hallways and into the MRI room.

Lightning pushed past the door into the MRI room as the words already started to slip out of her mouth due to her impatience, "Anise where is my patient's re-" and then she was forced come up short when she saw a very, very surprising and rather inappropriate scene to be happening in a workplace.

The doctor of the same level as her, Dr. Lion, had her lips sealed tightly against Anise, the MRI equipment operator. Upon noticing the pinkette's sudden intrusion, Lion pulled away and a lazy smirk came up whereas Anise on the other hand blushed as red as a tomato and stuttered as she responded quickly to Dr. Farron's request, "S-Sorry, it'll be ready in just a minute."

Lightning crossed her arms as a response and then turned her glare to Lion instead of Anise, who she knew was the cause of the report's delay. The doctor knew her stuffs, she was one of the few renowned surgeons in the hospital and many paid her high respect, but then again that goofy and flirtatious attitude of hers in the workplace sort of put off some respect that she actually deserved. Lion could be considered as a rather close associate to the pinkette considering that they have worked together for most times, but then again even though she was very knowledgeable and Lightning did respect her for that, that attitude of hers simply didn't sit well with the pinkette. The pinkette frowned at the short-haired brunette who was still giving out that lazy smile of hers despite her very dissatisfied glare, clearly happy that she finally scored from Anise and it was definitely telling Lightning that she didn't care what she saw and what she thought about it. "Aren't you supposed to be on duty right now? Doing rounds instead of being here?" She asked sternly, frustration hinted in her voice

While Anise gulped at that tone, Lion paid no mind to it and waved a dismissive hand, "I've already finished my rounds, and we're on schedule still. Besides, aren't we pretty quick, Anise?" She nudged the blushing operator who chose to be wise and remained silent.

A huff escaped from the pinkette, "I've been waiting for the report and it's because of you and that flirtatious attitude of yours that caused me a delay."

"Why the stern and serious tone, Farron? It hasn't even been 15 minutes since the scan, normal prep time would be longer than that, why rush others just because of your own impatience? Quit being so uptight will ya?" Lion said as she crossed her arms with a disapproving eyebrow arched at the pinkette's lack of patience.

The pinkette frowned at the response, she knew Lion was right and that she couldn't counter the woman, it was her own thinking driving her up the wall and that bloody Fang that had to be away for so long. She released another huff, this time irritation directed more at herself for her lack of professionalism. "I want that report ASAP, please and thank you, Anise." Lightning said and turned to leave, but was then being stopped by Lion as she called out to her.

"You seem to be feeling rather… uneasy, upset even, Farron. You weren't like that the week before, and certainly calm and in control for most times. Why, fought with your drop-dead gorgeous lover?" The short-haired doctor asked, slightly teasing as she ended the question.

Lightning frowned at the question, "What do you mean by lover?" She asked.

Lion arched a quizzical eyebrow, "The tanned brunette that dropped by during lunch time occasionally to have lunch with you?"

This time, it was Lightning's turn to be confused at that statement. Since when was Fang her lover? "I do not have a lover." She replied as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Lion's eyebrows rose with mild surprise, "You mean that beauty is not your girlfriend?"

Lightning frowned slightly at the way the doctor called Fang with… inappropriate names, though correct, but that flirtatious accent was not appropriate, and she didn't like it one bit, "Her name is Fang."

Lion blinked a few times at the statement and then a chuckle escaped as she realised that the pinkette was actually showing jealousy that another person was appreciating the woman's beauty and calling her names, "Right, right, Fang it is. So, you're telling me that you two aren't together? That's strange."

The pinkette had a confused frown on her face then, "What do you mean by 'strange' here?"

"My sixth sense is usually very accurate, and I thought the two of you were together. I mean, how could best friends be so clear on every single detail of the other person and try to make sure everything's done according to their liking if they don't actually love the person to the core?" Lion said with shrug.

"Why do you say that?" Lightning asked slowly, feeling a bit curious to know more.

"Every single time I see that Fang of yours, she knew when not to disturb you. I've seen her multiple times stopping briefly at your door, yet she never knocked, because she knew it's not lunch time yet and you wouldn't appreciate disturbance while at work." The doctor explained.

Lightning looked intently at the doctor, remaining very silent as she silently urged the doctor to go on, which Lion took the cue and continued.

"She makes sure you get that favourite spot every time, makes sure you get that favourite meal and drink of yours, heck she even makes sure to put those utensils just like how you would like them placed. There was this one time she even asked the other person queuing before her if she could get that favourite sandwich of yours since it was the last one and in exchange, she would buy that person coffee if he's willing to go for something else. Seriously, if that's not love, I'm not sure what the heck that is." The short-haired doctor said with a bewildered smile.

Listening to how the doctor elaborated on these things that Lightning had _no idea_ of, she could do nothing else but stood frozen in place, feeling extremely dumbfounded. She tried to search for words but she was simply to taken aback at the thought that Fang might possibly _love_ her. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts off before she jumped to conclusion, she tried to counter – it was perhaps more appropriate to say that Lightning intended to find more convincing moments rather than actually denying it if Lightning was being very honest with herself – the doctor, "Maybe she's just… very considerate."

A laugh was heard, "Really now? _That_ considerate? Look me and my bestie have been friends for like since forever and if her favourite dish was sold out? I'd laugh. And if it's the last one left? I still wouldn't go all the way out to buy another person coffee simply because she likes to eat that. The thing here is, why would your _Fang_ go all the way out just to make you happy or well, _please you_? Is she really that much of a considerate person to begin with? Well only you can answer that." Lion said with a smug smirk.

Lightning looked away and bit her lower lip at the loss of words, and when she didn't speak up, Lion continued, "I've seen the way she looks at you. I know that look, I'm pretty sure I'm not wrong judging from my experiences."

The pinkette turned to face Lion again, confused as she didn't quite get what the doctor meant by 'that look', "'That look'?" She repeated in a questioning tone.

"That look that someone gives when he or she is totally head over heels for you. I could really see how gentle she was being with you, her eyes even sparkle for ya. Can't believe you're so dense to not notice it, I thought you were better than that." Lion said with a mocked sigh.

With so much information suddenly barging into her head, Lightning felt that she really needed some space and time alone to analyse and figure things out, was it really what Lion said so? Well, she wouldn't know anyway if she were to only question herself and not the person in question. Suddenly, she felt her desperation to see and talk to Fang grew even greater, and so did her frustration due to her depleting patience awaiting the brunette's return. "Nothing's for sure." She said frustratingly as she turned on her heels to leave.

"You've it too y'know." Lion interrupted halfway through the pinkette's departure, causing her to halt her footsteps. When the pinkette paused in her tracks, Lion continued, "That same look that Fang has for you, you've it for her too. Just in case you didn't notice it yourself, Miss Dense." She ended with an amused smile.

Lightning turned her head slightly, but she didn't counter the doctor. Instead, she continued on her way out of the MRI room and back to her own office. She was going to have a lot on her mind from this moment onwards.

* * *

 **Kindly R &R!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I wrote this chapter based on Yiruma's "I", so a music suggestion for you to listen to while you read it!**

* * *

Lightning Returns – Where I Belong

Chapter 4

Clearly, sitting in her office the whole day pondering on this issue alone was not helping her one bit. There were no answers to all her questions that she wanted to ask Fang, and she was not even sure of her own answers to her own feelings. She had zero experience and zero knowledge in this kind of stuffs, and this did not serve her well one bit at this point of time.

Sure, she really liked having Fang around, she had always felt at ease whenever the brunette was around because she knew she was with a capable companion. Lightning knew and had to admit that she had not missed anyone this much before for all that she could remember, except for Serah but even her sister couldn't match this feeling that she was having for the brunette right now in her absence. Whenever Fang was around in her house, she really did felt like Fang truly belonged there, and back then Lightning occasionally wished that the brunette didn't had to leave at night. Now, she found herself actually wishing that Fang did live with her. But then again, was it because she found herself being so comfortable around the brunette that she wanted her around as a company, or did she really love Fang? Being at this age, she really didn't want to fool herself or jump into conclusions too quickly and ended up being awkward with Fang if she found out later that it was not love that she felt or that Fang wasn't as what Lion said that she loves her after she confessed, and it would be extremely unfair to end up with the brunette and then later realised that it wasn't love for her if Fang really was, as what Lion mentioned, in love with her.

If Lightning was being honest at all, she would admit that she was really very dense in things like these, although there was no freaking way that she would admit it aloud to that overconfident doctor, she would be teased till she knew no tomorrow if she were to admit it in front of Lion.

Which was why, she needed help. "Hello, Serah?" Lightning spoke into the phone as she sat sagged in the driver seat of her car, drained of energy from too much thinking. Even her voice sounded tired.

"Claire? You sound very tired, are you alright?" Serah asked gently and her voice was laced with concern.

Lightning released an exasperated sigh into her smart phone as a hand combed tiredly through her champagne pink locks, "I'm alright, just… bothered. Very bothered." She replied honestly. At this point, there was no reason for her to hide anything. Ever since _Claire_ had returned, Lightning had learned to open up to her sister, and she was assured by Serah in the past that no matter what issues bothered her, she would be there lending her ears. So this was exactly what Lightning was going to do, talk with an open heart.

Serah raised a quizzical eyebrow at the honesty, even though the pinkette had become more open towards her, this was still one of those rare occasions where Lightning completely just succumbed to her defeat and get Serah into the picture to talk about whatever that was bothering Lightning. "Why are you so bothered? Did something happen at work?" She queried curiously.

"Yes and no. I need to talk to you." Lightning stated flatly, clearly giving up on pondering aimlessly in her thoughts alone.

Serah nodded immediately, "I'll be right at your place after I'm done marinating the steaks for dinner, then I'll pass it over to Snow for the rest." She said, knowing full well that Lightning would only talk at her own place where she will find perfect comfort and privacy, even if it meant the inconvenience that may arise for herself. Well, the things you do for the ones you love.

Lightning finally let out a smile after having a frown pasted on her face from morning till late afternoon – about 3p.m. – until the extent it actually hurt now that she relaxed her features. Smiling softly, she replied, "Take your time Serah, I'll just head to Acacia's to get some pastries and coffee first for when you come over. Thank you for coming over, Serah." The pinkette ended off with a genuine note.

The younger Farron chuckled at her sister, "Oh Claire, don't even mention it, you were always there for me whenever I needed you, I'm so not going to lose to you in 'being there for one another'. I'll probably be there in about 45 minutes or an hour tops."

The pinkette's smile grew wider at her sister's consideration and understanding, "I'll see you then."

"Sure Claire, see you in a bit." Serah responded and hung up after bidding goodbye.

Lightning removed the phone from her ear and looked at the screen which showed the call with Serah had ended, and then it disappeared and revealed another screen showing the numbers which she had made 'favourite' so that she could easily access the numbers and dial within a second. The numbers in the 'favourite' section was without a doubt, the people who Lightning mostly contacted and would like to contact. The first number belonged to the younger Farron, while the other belonged to her current misery – Fang's. All this while, ever since from the previous universe, Lightning had always kept Serah's number close in her phone and she could even remember by heart if she were to lose her sister's contact number that was saved into her phone, simply because Serah was her only family left and that she cared for her deeply and would like to get hold of her easily and conveniently the moment she took her phone out. Fang's case, well, the number hadn't always been there from the beginning. Lightning couldn't exactly remember when she had made this number a 'favourite' and since when she had learnt the brunette's number by heart, but she knew one thing for sure was that she always liked calling Fang and hearing her accented voice from the other side. Whenever she had a bad day, she would sometimes call Fang instead of Serah, it was an autonomous action that the pinkette herself had only come to notice now. Thinking about it now, Lightning realised she was more prone to calling up Fang for a quick chat to release her thoughts instead of her sister, even though they would most probably meet with each other in the evenings, which was rather… odd. Maybe, maybe she was so used to always talking to the brunette in the evenings during their frequent hangouts that she had cultivated such a habit? Lightning wasn't that convinced by that particular thought though, she somehow felt there was more to it but again, she wasn't sure.

Lightning sighed and shook her head to clear off the thoughts for now, perhaps talking to someone with experience like Serah would help. Or she hoped it would.

* * *

The pinkette slowed her car as she was nearing Acacia's Coffee House and looked for a parking. As if Lady Luck was smiling down on Lightning on her not-so-okay day, there was a side parking right in front of the coffee house that the pinkette was going to visit. She manoeuvred her car smoothly into the parking lot and then got off.

Lightning entered the standalone cottage-like coffee house and the smell of mesmerising coffee immediately welcomed her. The aroma calmed the pinkette's tired mind and gave it a mild boost, effectively putting a faint smile on her face. At this time, the coffee house was usually half filled with patrons as many were still working and only those who were fortunate enough to leave work early or have the flexibility to work out of office lingered around in the coffee house for some high tea. And Lightning, being in her current position at her workplace, gave her the privilege to leave early once whatever work that needed to be done was finished.

She walked up towards the pastry display case and browsed the pastries available, looking for the one and only pastry that could manage to capture her heart. Once the pinkette liked something in terms of food or drink, she usually simply stuck to it. Less thinking, less trouble, less time wasted. As she looked through the pastries displayed, she finally saw her favourite pastry – Pain Au Choc, but next to it was Pain Au choc à La Fraise, which was Pain Au Choc with strawberry filling. Lightning smiled when she remembered Fang bringing it over, where she took it for the first time and how wonderful it tasted. She then placed her order for one Pain Au choc à La Fraise and one other pastry that was meant for Serah, along with two cups of coffee for the takeaway.

At the cashier counter, Lightning prepared for payment to be made. Just then, the owner, a woman in her 40s, came out and saw the pinkette, to which she immediately walked over to greet her. "Hello Lightning, glad to see you today." The owner smiled.

Lightning looked to the owner and returned a small smile, "I'm here to grab some pastries and coffee on the way home."

"Ah, I see." The owner responded as she looked at what the pinkette had ordered, and then arched a curious eyebrow. "No Strawberry Custard Puff today?" The woman asked with a warm smile, small winkles showing themselves around the crooks of her eyes.

Upon listening to the woman's question, somehow Lightning immediately knew what the woman meant – Strawberry Custard Puff was Fang's favourite. "Not with Fang today, I'm getting these for my sister and I."

"Oh okay. Fang hasn't dropped by recently, where'd she go?" The woman asked.

"On an expedition, she should be back by the end of this week." Lightning answered.

The owner made a silent 'oh' at the response, and then her smile returned. "I see you've got some Pain Au Choc a La Fraise too, have you tried it yet?"

Lightning smiled, "I have, Fang brought it over last week. It's delicious."

The owner raised her eyebrow and her lips quirked upwards mischievously, "So you're _that_ person." She whispered it softly more to herself than it was meant for the pinkette, earning a curious look from said woman who was looking as she mouthed those inaudible words.

"Sorry?" Lightning asked politely.

"Oh, it was nothing, I'm just glad you like the new variation." The owner smiled brightly at Lightning.

The pinkette raised a quizzical eyebrow at that smile, it felt like there was something to it but she had no idea what. Just then, she remembered Fang mentioning that Acacia came up with the strawberry variation of Pain Au Choc voluntarily, so she asked the owner – since she was already here – as she was curious as to what prompted this, " "Excuse me, sorry but I'm just wondering why did you decide to make a variation for Pain Au Choc?"

The owner's smile disappeared and was replaced with a curious frown instead, "You don't know yet? Even though you've already eaten it when Fang brought it to you?" She asked.

This time, it was Lightning's turn to frown at that respond, clearly puzzled. "No, I don't. Fang only told me that you've made changes to it, she didn't explain the reason behind the initiative if there was any."

The owner pursed her lips as a hand came up to hold her chin and assumed a thoughtful look, apparently trying to make a decision as her eyes rolled about from left to right and then to left again, showing the analytical thinking process. When she was done, she lowered her hand and a determined look was plastered on her face as she started, "I guess it should be alright for me to tell you at least this: Fang was the reason we made it."

Lightning's eyes went wide with surprise, "Fang? How so?" She asked curiously.

The owner shifted a little as she put on her thinking look again and pondered on whether she should let the pinkette know the truth. A short while of pondering later, which was extremely torturous for Lightning who was getting even more curious as the seconds went by, she started explaining, "Well… Fang dropped by some time ago and asked if we could make a strawberry variation of Pain Au Choc, at first we said no since we wanted to keep things original, but she was so persistent in this matter and spent a long time talking us into it so we decided to give it a try in the end, which to our surprise, it was quite a wonderful hit for our customers too when we held a tasting session with our regulars. Fang was there too, and she was delighted that we decided to give it a go. So since it was so popular, we've decided to introduce Pain Au Choc a La Fraise into our pastry menu."

The pinkette's face was one of comprehension as she listened to the owner's explanation, but there was one thing that she didn't get – why did Fang do that? "I see… I wonder why she did what she did." Lightning said more to herself than to the owner as she looked at the pastries, she couldn't help but let her mind wander off to her conversation with Lion just this morning. Could this just be a coincidence?

"I hope you don't mind me being nosy," The woman said with a sheepish smile, capturing Lightning's attention, "Fang has her reason for doing this, and _you_ should get to know this from _her_. I'm sorry, but this is all I can say, I'm not in the position to tell you more than that." She said with a helpless smile.

That left Lightning baffled and at a loss for words, this exchange with the owner only made it seemed to her like people other than her alone knew what was going on, and the thing that bothered her most now was that Fang was not here right now to answer whatever questions that she currently had, which by the way, just went up by one more question in the list. After losing herself in her own thoughts for a couple of seconds, she managed to snap out of it and thanked the owner when her conscious mind returned. "Right… Thank you, Acacia, I'll speak to Fang as soon as I can." She said with a determined tone, clearly showing her resolve in clarifying things with the brunette. Soon.

"You're most welcome, I certainly hope you'd find out soon." Acacia responded and smiled as she excused herself to serve the other customers.

Picking up her packed orders, she took long strides in her walk and made a beeline for her car. She needed to talk to Serah, she needed to know more, needed to understand what all these actions meant. Most importantly, she needed ascertainment for her own feelings towards the brunette as well before she actually confronted Fang when she could see her.

* * *

 **Kindly R &R!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I wrote this chapter based on Yiruma's "All Myself To You", so a music suggestion for you to listen to while you read it!**

* * *

Lightning Returns – Where I Belong

Chapter 5

Serah came in her white Mini Cooper and gently parked her car next to her sister's Rapide S. The younger Farron got out of her car and wasted no time making her way towards the front door of Lightning's house, knowing that the older Farron was probably drowning in frustration by now. Upon reaching the porch she raised a hand to knock on the door-

The door immediately swung open without needing Serah to knock, and revealed Lightning with slight dishevelled pink locks and a very, very dark frown on her face. Frowns were common with the pinkette, but when things get into her head, that frown will simply get even darker and deeper and you would clearly know not to mess with Lightning at this point of time. Before Serah could open her mouth to greet her elder sister, she was being pulled swiftly into the house and the door behind her shut closed almost immediately after she had stepped in. Lightning gently tugged Serah along – being careful not to hurt the younger Farron in the process no matter how frustrated and impatient she felt right now, because that's what a big sister should be doing – and guided her towards an armchair placed in front of the fireplace. As the weather had gotten chillier over the past few days with the season entering into autumn, the fireplace had been lit with a small fire flickering and it was giving out the right amount of warmth to the house. The pinkette gently pushed Serah into her seat and she turned to hers that was right beside, being separated by a wooden end table that was being placed in between the two armchairs. Lightning plopped herself down onto her armchair and leaned back against the seat as she continued to wear that frown on her face, but yet nothing came spilling out from her mouth. Serah watched silently from her seat and took up the cup of Chai Latte that was already on her side of the end table along with her pastry served on a plate, whereas for her sister's side only a cup of coffee was there. The younger Farron peeled her eyes away from her sister for a brief moment to look at the countertop in the kitchen, where she noticed there was a brown bag placed on top. Without a doubt, it was most probably the pinkette's pastry, but why wouldn't she have it now?

Serah then looked back at her sister who still had not moved an inch ever since her arrival and didn't seem to be starting to talk any time soon. She took a sip and then placed the cup of warm coffee back down onto the end table before she started to break the silence, "Seems like you've been home for quite some time now, Claire."

Lightning merely hummed.

"Still not sure how to start?" Serah prodded with a gentle smile, giving a small, gentle push was necessary in order for the stoic woman to start talking.

The pinkette breathed in and released air through her nostrils, indicating that her troubles were simply more than just a normal sigh. She shifted in her seat and got into a hunched position with her head propped on her interlocked hands supported by the top of her thighs, a thinking position that she always assumed whenever deep in thoughts. Serah recognised that posture and decided to give a bit more time for her sister to put her thoughts into words. Meanwhile, she picked up the plate of pastry and fork and started digging into it.

After another brief moment of silence, Lightning finally opened her mouth to speak, "I'm… not sure of what I'm feeling right now." She said, and then paused as a small frown came to her face while she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, clearly the inexperience was proving to be slightly unnerving for her. "How do you… What is… 'love' supposed to be like?"

A smile came to Serah's lips as her sister finally decided to open up, and was even delighted to hear Lightning exploring the interest of 'love' after so many years. Although, she kept that delightedness at bay for now, not knowing what caused such curiosity to spark in the pinkette. If the cause of this was not due to a certain tanned beauty that Lightning had known for years, then Serah was going to feel so bad for that woman. Serah placed her plate of pastry down on the end table before straightening herself in her seat and then had her interlocked hands placed on top of her crossed legs, giving off the vibe of a professional consultant, "Hmm… How should I put it? You see… love is… different when it comes to different people, it has a lot of varying meaning when it's being defined by different people. If you ask me what 'love' is, I can tell you my version of it, but you may or may not agree with it. Love depends on… how you see 'love' as. Your perception is what matters most to you." The younger Farron explained with a smile.

Lightning merely blinked at her sister, a blank expression was plastered on her face. "How do you know when it's… love? When I don't even know what 'love' is supposed to be like?" She asked incredulously.

Serah gave a brief roll of her eyes, "I'm not finished, mind you. I'm just trying to explain to you first that the definition of 'love' may vary from person to person. I know full well you've zero experience and knowledge, Claire, I'll be sure to give you some examples to ponder with." The younger Farron said with a chuckle.

The pinkette pouted slightly at her younger sister who apparently – well, _actually_ – has experience in this field poking fun at her, but she didn't mind it, after all it was a fact that she indeed had zero knowledge and experience. Besides, only Serah-

 _Wait… Fang too_. Lightning thought as she mentally noted to herself who were the only ones that could poke fun at her without her wanting to actually seek a payback. Since when did she actually start to allow Fang to get off the hook with her teases? Since when did she allowed Fang to come in to stand on par with Serah in her heart…?

"Hello? White Castle to Claire?" Serah waved a hand in front of her sister who had apparently spaced out and got lost in her thoughts so as to regain her attention.

The pinkette blinked a few times and then looked at her, "Yea?" She asked with a slight frown as she recovered from spacing out.

Serah started once more, "You thinking about something?" She asked with a smile.

Lightning bit her lower lip lightly and looked down briefly, wondering if she should ask this question. Was it alright to feel this way? Will Serah feel offended? Either way, only Serah can help her now. "Is it normal… to have someone occupying a position in your heart that's on the same level as your family?"

The younger Farron merely looked at her sister and smiled warmly, she understood now the hesitance and indecisiveness in asking that question. For someone like Lightning with absolutely zero experience, something like this was not surprising at all, someone like her might think that perhaps having someone else that was not a family member being on par with the _blood-related family_ in terms of feelings, degree of care given, and position in the heart would be weird and might even offend the blood-related family members, which in this case, Serah. Still, it came across as a little funny, though a bit sad as well for the younger pinkette. It was a bit funny because Lightning Farron, the infamous ex-soldier turned L'cie that brought down Orphan, who then became Knight of the Goddess – Etro, and then in the end defeated Bhunivelze and destroyed the old universe that they were in as the status of a demigod, someone like _her_ who had experienced that much in one lifetime would be troubled when it came to having feelings for someone else.

On the other hand, it was rather sad for Serah to know that because of Lightning's duties in the past, her roles and responsibilities, and most importantly because of _herself_ , Lightning had no choice but to march forward in life nonstop and to continuously fend off danger and life threatening situations just to keep her promise to her – that Lightning would save her and they will be together again. Due to all these incidents that happened in the pinkette's life, she didn't even had the time nor leisure to even think about things like romance, which the pinkette deemed as trivial things compared to Serah's live. When they have first arrived in the New World three years ago, they were all being born into different regions of the world, although still considerably near, but it still took time for them to find each other again and reunite with everyone. They had all spent almost an equal amount of time looking for each other, which finally after a little bit more over a year that they had managed to reunite with one another. After the reunion, they had to divert their focus to building the region that they were in considering that there was not much establishments whatsoever that would form a proper town, so everyone along with other inhabitants in the region invested their time and energy into construction again while Lightning worked on and off in construction as she pursued the path of a doctor from day one, saying that the reason being she had fought too many battles and taken too many lives in the past as a soldier and saviour, which in this New World, she chose to save lives instead. The construction was done for most part and the town formed into a rather sizeable community then, which Lightning and the others stayed for some time before being found out that Lightning was the saviour while Vanille was the soul guider by some people who still had pieces of memories of the previous universe, who once confirmed their identities, came flooding to their respective houses on a rather often basis to 'take a look' at their saviours while also bombarding them with gifts as tokens of appreciation. To Lightning, this was called harassment, although the people meant no harm. As for Vanille, Fang was the one making the call to leave the establishment and head to another establishment while making sure this time nobody knew and even if they asked, deny at all costs. The two Pulsians left first for another establishment, then followed by Hope and his family. Lightning and the rest of the ex L'cie companions and Snow's best friends made the move slightly after a couple of months the former moved out, and that was how everyone now ended up living in White Castle Village, which was small and quiet enough for them to live in peace.

Since Lightning moved into the area, that was when Fang started to pay more visits to the pinkette's home since they were all freer then. Occasionally at first, then it became a daily basis now. Yes, of course Serah knew because Vanille was her best friend, and if Serah knew, she would tell Snow and Snow would tell everyone in his gang. Basically, everybody knew about Fang's feelings towards Lightning _except_ the pinkette in question, which was rather amusing to most of them. Although, the amount of time taken for the two of them to take one step forward was starting to stir impatience in some of them which made them feel like just shouting out to the pinkette sometimes who was so dense in realising Fang's feelings for her just so she and Fang could just bloody get together, but they knew better than to pull off such a move. They were not in the position to say anything after all, and Fang probably had her reasons if she hadn't confessed yet even though it had been almost a year now, so if they do pull off such an act, the brunette would probably _not_ let them off the hook easily if they ruined anything that was being planned.

Still, even as patient as Serah was being, she was hoping that the two could get together real soon too. Everybody could literally see the chemistry between them and the interactions and exchanges between the two women basically spelled love for each other, but one was not making the move while the other was still clueless. For Serah, if she could see her sister happy with someone just for once, she would die a happy sister. Which was why now, she was going to do her best in assisting and guiding Lightning towards realising her feelings for the brunette, and perhaps even take it upon herself the danger that would happen to her – even though it was unlikely that Fang would hurt her – by revealing the truth to the pinkette that Fang actually likes her too, if the time called for such necessity. "Of course it's normal, that's when you really, really love that person to the extent where you feel or want to form a family with them. For me, you and Snow are the closest to my heart and the two people who I truly love wholeheartedly, you're my sister, while Snow is my lover and soon-to-be husband." The younger Farron explained.

Listening to that, Lightning couldn't help but linger on the word 'family' and blushed as she thought of forming a family with the brunette, but the thought of it didn't sound bad at all nor did the pinkette repel the thought, instead it made her insides flipped up and down slightly at the thought of possibly being a family through the bond bestowed by marriage. It was, of course, still too early to think anything about marriage with the brunette right now when she hadn't confirmed anything yet and they haven't even dated once. However, Lightning was sharp enough this time to learn that she will happily accept Fang as her family and… partner, when she dwelled on this particular thought. Learning about this seemed to finally give her a heads-up in escaping from her own cluelessness.

The pinkette pursed her lips accompanied by a raised eyebrow as she pondered on it for a little while more before finally returning her attention to her sister, who was looking at her with a cheeky, yet seemingly happy smile, "W-What?" She said while her cheeks were tinted with a little redness as she noticed herself getting caught to be contently lost in her own thoughts.

Serah shrugged happily, "Nothing." She said as her smile grew wider.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Lightning asked with a mixture of a frown and a wry smile plastered on her face.

The younger Farron's eyes then turned into something warm and loving, motherly even if Lightning was being asked to describe, "I'm just feeling happy that you're finally opening yourself to such feelings."

The pinkette blinked a little and gave a small, almost sheepish smile as she responded, "You sound like my mom."

Serah crossed her arms and held her head up proudly, "You've been my 'mom' long enough, it's time for a change of role in this situation. Claire, I want you to be happy, and I'm sure mom and dad would love to see you being happy with someone for once after so many things that had happened. You deserve the happiness for all that you've done." She said with sincerity laced heavily in her voice, her features one of genuineness as she looked Lightning in the eyes while she continued, "So I'm going to make sure I can be of help this time with you coming to realise your feelings for _Fang_." Serah ended with a mischievous wag of her eyebrows.

Lightning's eyes went wide opened with surprise and her expression was one of dumbfounded with her mouth agape as the younger Farron mentioned the very woman in question. If it wasn't for her jaw, her chin would most probably be touching the floor right now. "How did… How did you know that I was thinking about… about Fang?" She asked, stuttering a little as she was feeling a tad nervous in admitting to Serah. In this situation, it was rather understandable that Lightning was feeling anxious even though it was her sister that she was admitting to because firstly, this was her first time admitting her feelings for someone else openly and secondly, she was indirectly admitting to Serah that she was, well, a lesbian, and she was wondering – and a little worried as well – how Serah would see her now that this crossed her mind. Although, looking at that cheeky and smiling face, it seemed to the pinkette that the younger Farron may not be too opposed to the idea of her not being heterosexual, allowing the weight on Lightning's chest to be lifted slightly.

Sensing the sudden tenseness in the older Farron, Serah caught her sister's concern and her cheeky smile turned into a warm and reassuring one, "Don't worry, I won't look at you funny. Love is love, and we're all entitled to love the person we choose to love. My only concern for you is to be happy, Claire." She explained in a gentle tone as she reached a hand out and gave a tender grip on the pinkette's arm.

Upon hearing that, Lightning felt her tenseness fade away and the muscles in her shoulders relaxed considerably. She held up a hand and covered Serah's that was on her arm, and a genuinely grateful and warm smile appeared on her lips, "Thank you, Serah."

Serah's smile grew at the warm sight, "Don't even mention it, Claire." She said as she gave the pinkette one last gentle squeeze before retracting her hand. Then, her eyes turned into a mischievously gleeful stare at her sister, "So… Let's start talking about Fang, shall we?" She said with a wide, playful grin. Oh how she was waiting for this moment to come, it was a pure challenge to simply stay calm and not be excited right now!

Lightning fidgeted slightly at that smile, she knew what that meant, and it was a good thing that she was really determined this time to make sure she followed through her decision to talk and find out. Why? Well, because it _felt important_ to Lightning this time. This time, she will not back down like how she did the last time when she was younger. This time, Fang was the person in question, and a strong feeling inside her made sure she did not let her slip by _this time_. "Well… How should we start?" Lightning asked with a determined look.

"It's up to you, what do you want to share with me first, hmm?" Serah asked as she took a bite of her pastry.

Lightning frowned and gave a shrug, "I don't know where to start." She replied with a matter-of-fact kind of tone.

Serah gently tapped a finger to her lips as she assumed a thinking expression, and after awhile her eyes returned to the pinkette, "Let's start with your thoughts about Fang then. What do you think of her? Just say anything that comes to your mind, be honest." She said with a smile.

The pinkette processed it for awhile before her mind went wandering off to Fang. As she thought about Fang, memories of first meeting her back in Palumpolum resurfaced into her mind's eyes. Lightning went through the details of the brunette's grand entrance as she rode on Shiva behind Snow, guns blazing at the enemies surrounding them and even hitting a bull's eye at a camera causing it to explode in Yaag's face. At that point, Lightning smiled at the memory, she had wanted to smile back then but the otherwise life threatening circumstances that they were in did not allow that leisure to smile. "She's… stunning." She started her first description, and paused as she relived her memories of Fang swirling around the bike and getting off, then her smoky emerald eyes locked onto her own turquoise ones. "Absolutely beautiful." The pinkette continued as her eyes shown her lost of focus of what was in front of her as she lived through other memories of Fang. She recalled how Fang smoothly manoeuvred her spear and downed those enemies blocking their path one after another, a disciplined strength can be clearly seen coursing through every inch of muscle. "Strong," She said as she then recalled Fang gently tugged at her jacket to get hold of her zip so as to check her L'cie brand, a finger tenderly grazing along her skin as the brunette traced the shape of the brand, "Yet can be very _gentle_." Lightning managed with a shaky breath at the memory, now that she recalled this she realised how… sensual it could have been for her. She shook her head slightly and gulped – earning a very knowing smile and look from the younger Farron – before she continued on pondering about Fang, then her mind led her to when they had first found each other in the New World in a very unlikely setting – at a spring.

 _Lightning was walking in the woods to investigate the surroundings of the area to see if it was fit for safety so that an establishment can be built around the area. When she had treaded quite a distance into the woods, she then heard sounds of splashing amongst the rustling of the trees. Curious as to what the source could be, she followed the sounds of water splashing and ended up at a small clearing where a spring was found in the middle of the clearing. When she had arrived at the clearing she kept herself hidden behind the bushes as she inspected the area for any signs of living danger lurking around, and an innocent peek gave her the surprise of what can be considered for her, a lifetime as she saw Fang emerged from beneath the spring's surface and apparently_ naked _._ Thinking back on the event now, the sheer memory of it caused Lightning's breath to be caught in her throat and her heart started pounding a tad harder and faster at the memory, compared to when back then it was only pure surprise to have found Fang there and well, naked. _Lightning called out to Fang then to check if it was really the brunette, and not surprisingly, it was her. When Fang heard Lightning's voice and saw her in the flesh, she immediately sprinted out of the spring and headed towards the pinkette's direction, but the action of the pinkette averting her eyes away the moment Fang emerged from the spring reminded the brunette to first get dressed before heading over to Lightning. When Lightning turned back towards the brunette she was then suddenly pulled into a tight, although wet, but warm embrace of Fang, and as surprised as she was at the sudden contact, she allowed the embrace and found herself snaking her hands around the brunette to return the embrace as well with Fang nuzzling lightly at her neck._ As Lightning recalled her own actions, she realised that she allowed such contacts with the woman and received her embrace warmly, as though she missed the brunette just as dearly as portrayed by the woman. Given that if it was someone else other than Fang or Serah, she would perhaps have been much more reserved and will not return the embrace, or might even be ticked off at the action. Why did she only realise all these now?

When this particular question hit her, she was brought back to the earlier events that took place today between her and Lion, her flirty but professional co-worker. Lightning recalled Lion's description of Fang's actions that was unbeknown to her, the brunette's efforts that always kept her walking away from lunch back to work happy. "Fang's definitely a very… attentive and understanding person." Lightning finally continued again from where she left off previously. Then as she recalled Lion mentioning 'that look', she proceeded to ask Serah if she did, in any event in the past, exhibited such a look, "This colleague of mine… she said I've this particular… _look_ when I look at Fang… is it true that I donned such a look when I was with her?"

Serah nodded immediately and strongly as if to show her absolute agreement to that statement, "Oh yes, most definitely yes. You do know that Fang has that kind of _look_ for you too? That kind of warm, gentle, dreamy kind of look?" Serah asked.

"To be very honest, no… All I could manage to notice whenever I was with her was… just _her_. The whole of Fang just left me… feeling so in the moment that I could notice nothing else but just her." Lightning said as she recalled the moments that she had spent with the brunette, from her charming grin to her fascinating emerald eyes that would never fail to draw her own eyes to them. "Her presence there, with me, was already intoxicating my mind to an extent where I can't really notice such details anymore." The pinkette admitted as she felt herself smiling amusedly at herself for allowing herself to drown in memories of the brunette. "I was that… defenceless with her, but yet I felt absolutely safe." Lightning said with a kind of relief and comfort hinted in her voice. "I feel like I could behave as myself entirely without hiding anything, just like when I'm with you right now. It's this _closeness_ that I find myself surprisingly allowing it to just… be there between us." She said with a look that had both awe – for the fact that Lightning now realised she allowed so many things that she would not allow another to be done to her so easily had it all done to her by Fang with ease, and she _allowed_ that – and relief – for the fact that she finally realised all these feelings within her – all mixed into one expression, but most of all, happiness was here – for realising this comfort, warmth and safety that was once unbeknown to her now known through Fang. After knowing all these new information, and after realising how dumb she was towards Fang's feelings, she kicked herself in the head for having wasted too much time with a person that she had actually loved since the very beginning. Lightning did not open to anyone easily, but when Fang came by, she opened up a tad more than she would have to anyone else. They got along so well, and sometimes, whenever she saw Vanille being close with Fang, she felt a tiny sting in her heart, which now she realised it was actually a pang of jealousy hitting at her. When Fang was trapped in crystal, Lightning wanted to save her too other than just Serah alone, she hoped to see her again soon but unfortunately at that time, she failed Serah and fell into a deep sleep. When Lightning finally saw Fang again at the bandit's base, she felt relief and happy now that she thought back about it. At that time, her feelings were being erased partially so her emotions weren't that strong, but now that she had opened up and allowed her emotions to be freed from her locked heart, she found herself to be rather excited to see Fang again when she recalled that particular moment. Lightning leaned back against her seat and released a sigh as she continued her realisation of all the other actions of hers that pointed to telling the feelings that she actually had for the brunette, then finally looked to Serah, "How can I be so bloody dense?"

Serah laughed, although she didn't intend to, but it was beyond her control now and she laughed a tad harder than she should have, amused at the way Lightning admitted her own denseness. Even when criticising herself, the pinkette remained brutal. "We all know you're that dense."

Lightning sat up straight upon hearing that, "Does that mean that Fang actually knows that I've feelings for her too?" She asked cautiously, a frown slowly appearing.

"Oh sorry, my mistake, all of us knew _except_ you and Fang. You're both just as dense, no wonder you two are perfect for each other." Serah said as she rolled her eyes at her sister and Fang.

That earned a soft chuckle from the pinkette, it had been a while since she could relax ever since Fang was gone for the expedition. Speaking of which, Serah mentioned Fang being dense and having that 'look' too. Does that mean…? "Wait… judging by the things you said earlier… you mean… Fang feels the same for me too?" Lightning asked slowly, her eyes staring at the younger Farron's intensely, as if showing a strong demand for truth and truth alone only.

Understanding her sister's anxiety and curiosity, Serah decided to answer honestly without blending in sarcasm just in case Lightning was too dense to understand, "Claire Farron, you better listen to this carefully – Yes, and she's totally in love with you, just like how you are absolutely in love with her too. Did I spell it clearly enough for you?" Serah said with a grin as she had both hands on her hips, a pose indicating that she was extremely satisfied with this announcement even though when Fang was back she might be in trouble but heck, she would probably thank her instead of making Lightning realise her own feelings for her.

Lightning remained still as she listened to what Serah had said, and had it processed in her mind over and over and over again until she was convinced that she was indeed listening to the right thing and even had it filtered through extreme scrutiny to ensure that it was not a joke. Slowly, a small smile formed on Lightning's lips and it slowly grew into a wide, bright smile then followed by a laughter hinted with joy, amusement, and relief. Lightning had not felt this amazing and smiled this brightly for a long, long time ever since her parents passed away, and even when she had finally managed to save Serah and the others, that feeling could not beat what she was feeling right now, not even close. "Crystal clear, Serah. Thank you so much… for helping me realise that Fang is someone this important to me." She said as she got up from her seat and bent down to hug the younger Farron tightly and appreciatively.

Serah returned the embrace and smiled warmly, "If you really want to thank me, just make sure you bloody get your arse to Fang and confess to her, get together already you two!" She said with a laugh.

Lightning pulled back and arched a surprised eyebrow at the younger pinkette at her choice of words, "Since when did you get so vulgar, Serah?" She asked with mocked disapproval.

Serah rolled her eyes and shrugged, "When you wait too long and the patience gets way too thin, vulgarity just kicks in. Even a patient person has their limits, you know."

Lightning snickered at the younger woman, "I get it, Serah. Trust me, I wish Fang is here right now too… I really miss her." She admitted with a small sigh as her shoulders slumped slightly.

Serah placed a hand on the pinkette's shoulder and gave her a light squeeze, "She'll be back in a few more days, then make sure you go get her. By the way, she makes a really good house keeper despite how wild and untamed she looks." She said with a giggle.

Lighting cocked her head to one side as a curious eyebrow raised at the statement, "That's a rather sudden statement, how'd you know she's a good house keeper?" She asked.

This time, it was Serah's turn to arch her eyebrow quizzically at the pinkette's question, "Didn't you find your house sparkling clean when you returned from that one month trip?" She asked curiously.

Lightning recalled her memories of when she first entered and saw the house clean and tidy, there were no dusts layering her table and kitchen counters, and she assumed that it was the younger Farron's doing back then. "Yea it's very clean, weren't you the one that helped kept it clean?" The pinkette questioned as she knitted her eyebrows in confusion.

The younger Farron shook her head, "No, it was Fang's doing. I was actually quite busy in that particular month because there were a few activities that were running in school, so I didn't actually have the time to clean your place. Fang knew and she offered to help me keep your house tidy, she was absolutely meticulous when she was cleaning, she's just perfect for a clean freak like you." Serah explained as she giggled.

Lightning's mouth was slightly agape at knowing that Fang was the one that had kept her house clean, why didn't she say anything? Fang had to stop doing things behind her back and not saying anything, otherwise how was she going to thank her for it? And the pinkette knew just how to thank her. "I didn't know that, I'm going to make her tell me everything that she has done just so I won't be like a fool not knowing how to thank her." She said with a small smile as she shook her head slightly.

"You sound like she has done loads of other things without you knowing?" Serah asked with a curious smile.

Lightning glanced to the clock on her wall then, "Don't you need to be home soon for dinner?" She asked with a smirk, she could learn to be playful at times.

"Stories are more filling than food at times like this, you're not one that has a lot to share usually." Serah countered as she bit her lower lip with excitement beaming, "I've got all the time in the world. FEED me." She said with a grin.

The pinkette merely rolled her eyes and she could not help but let an amused smile grace her lips at the younger Farron who was still acting like a small kid eagerly waiting for their bedtime stories. "Right… so I heard from Lion today…" Lightning began her 'storytelling' for her sister, spending their time leisurely for this sisterly moment.

* * *

 **Kindly R &R!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I wrote this chapter based on Yiruma's "Sometimes... Someone", so a music suggestion for you to listen to while you read it!**

* * *

Lightning Returns – Where I Belong

Chapter 6

Today was the day that Fang said she would return.

Lightning had expected Fang to perhaps drop her a call since the brunette promised that she would be back in two weeks' time, so the pinkette had naturally assumed that today would be the day that Fang would return to the village. She had been waiting rather patiently for Fang to call as she figured that the brunette may want some time for herself first to settle down and that she would give her a call to let her know that she was back, but when none came even until late at night, she called up Vanille only to find out that Fang had not returned yet. Lightning asked if the redhead knew when Fang's exact return would be, and she answered that the brunette should be back by today but yet, there seemed to be a delay in the schedule. Concern started welling up in the pinkette's voice but then Vanille had assured her that Fang should be alright, after all it was normal for expeditions to have a delay of one or two days max. Listening to this, Lightning released a small disappointed sigh and thanked Vanille before she reluctantly hung up.

Lightning will have to be patient perhaps for another one more day… Fang promised her she would return in two weeks but yet she broke her promise. Oh she was so going to punish the brunette for breaking that particular promise at this point of time when she was missing her so damn much.

Until then, Lightning will have to wait patiently.

* * *

Two days had gone by in the third week.

Yet, Fang had not returned.

It was late afternoon around 3p.m., where Lightning sat in her office chair hunched over with her hands propping up on her desk, her head resting gently against her intertwined hands as she assumed a thinker's pose while she stared hard at her phone, wondering why the brunette had not called or when she would call to say she has returned. If Lightning's eyes had lasers, the phone in question would perhaps be blasted into pieces now with the kind of intensity coming from the pinkette's sharp turquoise eyes. She closed her eyes and sighed at the brunette's lack of activity and response, with two days gone in the third week, it was now getting slightly abnormal for Fang to be gone so long for that expedition, and Lightning was slowly getting worried. She stared at her phone one more time before she picked it up and unlocked it, then proceeded to her 'favourite numbers' screen and dialled Fang's number for the umpteenth time in the day. Not surprisingly, but to her disappointment, the robotic voice from the other end said the same thing again – the phone had been switched off. It felt strange to Lightning that Fang would switch her phone off, but then again she shook the thought off thinking that perhaps the brunette had done it to conserve the battery during the exploration period where there won't be a need for phones.

When Lightning was back home late at night, she called Vanille again to check on Fang's return status. However, she was again met with disappointment, and Vanille too was starting to waver when she tried to assure the pinkette that Fang was probably alright, perhaps just a longer delay than usual. Lightning could hear the worry in the redhead started to grow as well, so she had also given assurance to the redhead that Fang will be alright, considering that she had a lifetime fighting experience with her, so survival out in the wilderness should not be an issue…

* * *

… Or so Lightning hoped.

A week went by and yet there was still no news from Fang, and it was still the same thing when Lightning tried to reach her through her phone. She had tried calling the organisation that arranged for the expedition when Fang had been five days late from return, but yet the organisation could not provide any other useful information regarding the expedition's status except for one very worrying news – they had lost contact with the expedition team leader a few days before their scheduled return. The news set Lightning's nerves on fire and her adrenaline running, causing her to release her pent up frustration and worry over the phone, questioning the person to no end until Serah stepped in to stop her.

The pinkette had never felt so frustrated in her entire life, back when Serah was crystallised sure she was frustrated at the Fal'cies and was also very frustrated when Bhunivelze held Serah's soul in captivity threatening her to do his dirty job. But then again, she knew what she needed to do in order to save Serah, she had a focus, a purpose that kept her going and things to keep her mind occupied while she worked towards that ultimate goal of rescuing her sister. Now? Fang was missing, and she had no idea what had happened or what she could do to possibly help the brunette if she was in some sort of danger. Heck, she tried to pry the expedition's location information so that she could perhaps go there herself to see what in the world happened, but that damn personnel won't let up and Serah just had to step in and interrupt her. All she could do now was lodge a report with the Guardian Corps and wait on General Amodar to hopefully return soon with news, though hopefully not bad news.

Lightning had felt a disturbing feeling back then when Fang had told her of this expedition, she felt that something was going to happen but she did not believe her own feelings enough to have stopped Fang with greater efforts… and now this happened. If something really happened to the brunette… Lightning can and never will be able to forgive herself for letting Fang go just like that. If only she had realised her own feelings for the brunette earlier… perhaps she could have had a more convincing reason for Fang to stay. At this point, regret and worry weighted down heavily on her, and she could only pray hard that Fang would return soon, and safely.

* * *

" _This phone has been switched of-"_ The robotic voice was cut off abruptly as Lightning pulled her phone away from her ear and held it in her hand as she pulled her hand back, ready to throw the phone towards the wall and smash it into pieces. The only thing that stopped her now was Fang, the thought of Fang might possibly call her through this very phone halted her action. Lighting clenched her jaw tightly and a deep frown was plastered on her face as she let her hand fell to her side slowly, the phone still in her hand being held onto so tightly that it was already threatening to break apart by the pinkette's sheer strength.

Lightning let out a long, exasperated sigh as she placed the phone down onto the end table that was situated between the two armchairs and walked towards the window that overlooked the village that was not far below from where her house was atop a small hill. She looked out to the horizon connecting the pavement that allowed vehicles to be driven up to her residence and the village's view, hoping that Fang would magically emerge from the horizon. For most times, the pinkette would not have such wishful thinking surfacing from her mind as it contradicted with her usual rational self, but now was not one of most times, and she was getting edgier and edgier day after day with no news of Fang.

Today marked the third day of the fourth week since Fang had been gone, or in other words, the tenth day since Fang's disappearance along with the team that went for the expedition. It was getting difficult to get by each day with each second wondering where in the world Fang was at and if she was safe, and all these wondering was killing the pinkette. And the fact of knowing a 7-day survival period where survival rates would be high did not help ease but rather now added more to her worries. At this point of time, she wondered if it would have been better not to know of her own feelings for the brunette so that she would feel less burdened by the disappearance. But then again, she would not have it any other way, because through this incident, Lightning was able to affirm even further of her own feelings for Fang that it was not something shaky or playful, but she was absolutely serious for the brunette. She had been through many nights wondering what would happen if Fang did not return, and the same conclusion always came up at the end even though Lightning had never been together with Fang yet – she would not settle for another one, not until Fang was proven dead and even then, she highly doubted that she would be with someone else. One thing was crystal clear now, Lightning wanted Fang and Fang only, no one else would suffice other than the brunette alone.

Sighing, Lightning walked away from the window after staring for a good whole ten minutes. Seeing that not even a shadow appeared, she returned to the table where her phone was at and stared at it for a while before another sigh ensued. The pinkette then turned to the fireplace in an attempt to light a small fire to warm the place up in this chilly weather, but then something caught her attention and she was drawn to it.

Lightning went over to the fireplace and picked up a rose shaped crystal that was placed there as a decoration for the fireplace, it was her favourite piece of décor and she would have it placed nowhere else other than her favourite spot in the house. The crystal was a birthday gift from the brunette that she received last year, and the resemblance to her previous eidolon summon-stone was astonishingly accurate for a crystal to be carved only based on one's memory. The gift was handcrafted by Fang's calloused hands for a simple reason – Lightning missed Odin, so the brunette had taken it upon herself to recreate a crystal stone that resembled Odin's summon-stone so that the pinkette could keep it as a constant, physical memory of the Godly knight that had accompanied her throughout her battles in the previous universe. And this was the very reason why Lightning had made this her absolute favourite back then, it was not only because of a memory recreated but most importantly the person and the effort involved in the creation of this gift. Holding this in her hand, Lightning was reminded that her birthday would be here in three days' time. Due to all these exhausting concerns and worrying thoughts, it was no surprise that the pinkette had lost track of the dates and even her own birthday, saved only by the crystal crafted by the very person that caused such a great deal of concern in her.

Suddenly, a thought struck her as she continued her gaze at the rose crystal. A very, very silly thought for someone as rational as Lightning but then again, desperation could drive people beyond their own limits and boundaries. Gently, she held the rose crystal in both hands and enveloped it inside her intertwined hands as she formed a symbol of prayer. She knew that her prayer may be futile without a heavenly being out there in this new universe, but it was perhaps worth a try praying to Odin, the previously heavenly knight that manipulates lightning, and see if he could hear her prayer somewhere in this universe and provide the guidance for Fang to return through his light.

"I only pray for Fang's safe return… if you can hear me, please… bring her back here. I'll be waiting here, always. Please guide her home with your illuminating light." Lightning prayed sincerely, hoping that someone out there, someone like Odin could hear her desperate prayer.

* * *

– The 13th Day –

Lightning sat in her office chair with her eyes closed as she rested her tired eyes, dark circles can be seen forming around her perfect eyes. Ever since Fang had been missing, the pinkette had not been able to catch any sleep be it in the day or night, worse even when the night fell and silence was your only companion that tended to encourage one to over think. The pinkette had been on the edge for having all her concerns brimming to the top, threatening to suffocate her as she thought of Fang, so she had refused to have any company over – even Serah was being shut out – so as to keep them away from her possible wrath.

As the sound of the alarm rang from her phone, the pinkette peeled her eyes open to reveal eyes covered with red veins in the white areas of her eyeballs, clearly showing the sign of sleep deprivation. She swiped a finger over her phone and turned the alarm off before a hand came reaching for her temples to rub at it gently, where the throbbing had eased slightly over the ten-minute rest. Today had been a very busy day for the pinkette since the morning, where her schedule had been packed fully to accommodate for the appointments that she had missed out last week due to taking emergency leaves so as to take whatever necessary actions that would aid in locating Fang. In about 15 minutes, Lightning will have to be in another operation that would last around four to five hours minimum, and that was going to be strenuous for her considering that she only had a ten-minute rest since last night till now. However, she was not going to forsake her duties and responsibilities as a doctor by stepping out of it or passing it on to another doctor simply due to a pathetic excuse of being deprived of sleep, as much as her professionalism was concerned. Besides, the pinkette knew her own capabilities, and she would not attempt anything that would perhaps bring harm to a patient if she was not sure enough of her own condition at that point of time, which was why she knew she needed this short rest before the operation ensued, even though her mind was still filled with thoughts of the brunette.

Sighing, she stretched her neck slightly from side to side to release the tension that has been built up due to exhaustion and stood from her office chair. Lightning then walked over to where her white doctor's coat hung and took off the white coat from the hook before putting it on. The pinkette adjusted her collars and then proceeded to leave the room. Just before she left, she took one last look at her phone that remained on her desk, hesitating whether to bring it along or not, but then the thought of the operation being a high risk one helped decided that the phone should stay for the period while she was in the operation room, as she needed to have full focus during the course of the operation. One mistake, and the patient's life will be in danger, and that was the last thing Lightning would want on her doctor's list. As much as Lightning worried that she might miss a particularly important call, she needed to stay focus first while she was in the status of a doctor. The pinkette then peeled her eyes away with slight reluctance before exiting the room and heading towards the locker room to change into her operation garb.

* Four hours later *

Lightning's phone lighted up as it received a call, and the screen read _Fang_.

* * *

 **Kindly R &R!**


	7. Chapter 7

Lightning Returns – Where I Belong

Chapter 7

– The 11th Day –

Fang peeled her eyes open slowly and found that she was lying on a bed as she was greeted by a white ceiling. Her eyes roamed about and landed on a nurse that was currently scribbling notes on what was most probably her patient record. She tried to speak but then the dryness in her throat only allowed her to croak slightly, but still effectively captured the nurse's attention nonetheless. The nurse quickly headed to her side and checked if she was finally conscious, then she pressed a button for notifying the doctor. When that was done, the doctor came by almost immediately and regarded Fang with a smile.

"Hello, you're finally awake." The doctor said.

Fang swallowed her saliva to wet her throat a little before she started, "Where am I?" She croaked, frowning slightly at the pain caused by the coarseness in her throat.

"You're in Academia Hospital, do you remember anything prior to this?"

The brunette nodded slowly, "A blast went off in the caves… and we were trapped for days."

"Did you remember how you were being rescued?" The doctor asked.

"The last thing I remember… was a quake hit us, and I fell unconscious after a bloody rock hit my damn head." Fang said as she held a hand up slowly and placed it on a considerable swell that she could feel beneath her fingers.

The doctor nodded, "I see, you were then rescued by the Guardian Corps in this area." She informed helpfully.

Fang looked to the doctor then, "How did the Guardian Corps know that there were people trapped in that cave region?" She asked curiously, knowing that the area where the expedition was at was far from town and considerably remote. She had not expected the GC to be covering that area for a search and rescue mission when an earth quake hit.

"Apparently, someone had reported to the GC that a group of people had gone missing in the northern region following an expedition. You were lucky that the GC came on time just when the quake hit, so they were fast enough to rescue every one of you out especially you, since you were injured pretty badly and lost quite a lot of blood. But you're real strong, you've been sleeping for about a day and your recovery has been exceptionally fast. The only thing that you need to take note of more carefully is your leg, you've got a broken leg when you were sent in here, we patched it up nicely but it will take about one or two months' time to recover fully." The doctor explained.

Fang nodded slowly as she comprehended the happenings that took place, "I see… Wait, have the GC informed any of our family yet regarding our condition?"

The doctor shook her head helplessly, "I'm afraid I'm not too sure about that, the GC is apparently still going on with the search mission after yesterday's quake."

"Where's my phone?" Fang asked as she sat up slowly supported by shaky hands.

"Wait, you need to take it slow, you've made good recovery but that doesn't mean you're fully recovered." The doctor said sternly.

"Yea I get it, where's my phone? I need to call someone, it's important." Fang said with a frown.

"Your phone is in the drawer." The nurse informed.

Fang immediately went for the drawer and plucked the phone out from it then swiftly switching it on, but there was one problem – the phone was not reacting at all. She tried pressing the same button several times but the screen simply wouldn't light up.

"Perhaps your phone has been damaged and it doesn't work anymore." The doctor offered.

"Do you have another phone that I could use?" Fang asked as she turned quickly towards the doctor, but then a sudden wave of dizziness hit her and she was forced to lie back down on the bed. The motion earned a rather disapproving look from the doctor.

"We do have public phones out at the corridor to spare, but unfortunately you'll have to stay in bed for now until I deem you fit to be out of bed. You've just only woken up, pushing yourself and getting anxious are not going to help you especially when you're still under the sedative's effect. Rest for the time being, you'll be fine the next morning and then you can go call anyone you want." The doctor said with a not so approving smile.

Fang squinted her eyes and pressed a hand to her forehead as she desperately tried to push the dizziness away, but unfortunately it was not working. She sighed in defeat as she listened to the doctor to get some rest, calling Lightning will have to wait.

*The Next Morning – 12th Day*

The brunette awakened to the light rays shining down on her face through the window, she managed a slight groan as she peeled her eyes open at the intruding sunlight, though she liked the warmth it brought. Fang slowly helped herself up and looked over to her right at the bedside table, where she noticed that now there were a kettle and a glass being placed on top for her to use. She reached out for the kettle and the glass and poured herself a generous amount of water before downing it, and then poured another glass and drank it all in one go. That showed how thirsty she was.

Now that she had rested long enough for the sedative to subside and got herself some water replenishment, she was feeling much better except for her leg that was wrapped in a splint and was currently hanging in midair. Strange that she did not notice this yesterday when she was awake, perhaps the sedative was pulling tricks on her.

This now though, was a problem. Fang woke up with one thing in her head: give Lightning a call. The brunette had a lot of things she wanted to tell the pinkette, and one of them being her feelings for the woman. After going through such gruesome life-and-death experience in the cave, she knew how regret tasted for not knowing if she could still tell Lightning how she felt at the point of time, so she could not wait any longer to confess to the pinkette and if she could right now, that would be perfect. The thing right now that was stopping her was her leg being hung in midair, and she could not get out of her bed because of this. And if she could not get out of bed, it meant that the public phone would be out of her reach. Solution: Pressed for the nurse bell.

A nurse came to Fang within seconds and stopped by the bedside, "Yes, how can I help you?"

"I need to use the phone, how can I get out of bed from this?" Fang asked.

The nurse looked to the brunette's hanging leg and pursed her lips as she scratched her neck helplessly, "Well… the doctor said you should be staying in bed first as your leg isn't fitted to be moved around as you like for now, so if it was not any emergency… you're not allowed to be wandering around yet."

Fang rolled her eyes and groaned aloud, stupid doctor interrupting in everything. "It's an emergency, I need to call someone!" She said through gritted teeth, her patience wearing thin.

The nurse looked at Fang with a sigh and shook her head helplessly, "Alright, alright, I'll help you get there. Just make sure you walk _with_ me and don't be rash or be running." The nurse said as she pointed a stern finger at the brunette.

Fang's face lighted up with a smile similar to that of a kid that was given a cookie. That smile though, was very quickly wiped off by the fact that a public phone in the hospital needed gils to make calls. The best part? Fang had no gils right now, and the nurse was not around right now for her to borrow some gils and she kicked herself for shooing the nurse away earlier as she thought she wanted some privacy when she phoned Lightning up. She looked around for someone to borrow gils from but unfortunately the bloody public phone had to be located somewhere deep within the hospital where a soul hardly passed by, so that was not an option. Frustrated, Fang wandered off on her own instead of listening to the nurse to stay put when she was done, and then she came across a room where the door read 'Patient's Belongings Storage Room'. Somehow, she felt that the answer to home would be in that particular room, so Fang pushed past the door and it indeed revealed the answer that she was looking for.

Fang grinned at the sight of her lance, she had found a way home.

* * *

– Present Time –

After a whole six hours of energy and focus spent in conducting the operation, Lightning was feeling more drained than she ever had been in a while. The last time when she was involved in an operation that lasted for 10 hours, she could not remember it being that exhausting for her. A likely reason for her to feel this exhausting was most probably due to her being both mentally and physically lethargic from the constant worrying and sleep deprivation. Her eyelids felt like closing already while she was changing back into her clothes halfway through, but forced herself awake at the sound of someone else approaching the female locker room.

The pinkette returned to her room and fell tiredly into her chair, then her hands came up and massaged at her now throbbing temples again. After a while, she leaned back into her seat, soaking up the comfort the office armchair could give her. At her current state, it felt like the chair was equivalent to that of a bed, and simply leaning back could lull her to sleep. When she recalled she had not checked her phone yet for the past six hours, she sat up straight and shook her head to rid herself off some of the sleepiness that was already seeping in.

Lightning finally picked her phone up again after having left it here for a long while, and she pressed at the screen on button to illuminate the screen.

Every inch of her muscle froze on the spot as she saw 38 miss calls.

Lightning was stunned, she was not sure whether it was because she was shocked to see the number of calls missed, or she was frightened at the degree of urgency as indicated by the number. Judging by the looks of it, she had a feeling that it was very _urgent_. She quickly unlocked her phone and checked through the missed calls, which most of them were Serah's and Vanille's, some from Snow, a couple from Hope…

And two from Fang.

The brunette's name alone caused Lightning's eyes to widen to a shocking degree with surprise. Lightning immediately called Fang's phone but then the robotic voice came back on, and the same message was delivered – the phone had been switched off. The pinkette pulled the phone away from her ear and then looked at it in confusion once more, wondering why was the brunette's phone not working again. And just when she was about to call Serah, the younger Farron apparently had sensed her intention as the caller ID showed the younger Farron's name. Lightning immediately answered the phone with a swipe of her finger.

"Serah? What's going on?" She asked hastily.

"Where've you been!? Fang's back!" Serah squealed at her sister.

Lightning was again stunned by that very statement as she processed the sentence over and over again to make sure that she was listening to it right, and even pinched her arm to ensure that she was not dreaming right now, "Where is she?"

"At home, I'm at Vanille's place right now. Come-" Serah was cut short when the pinkette hung up on the phone and got up from her chair then made a sprint for her car, not caring the fact that she still had her doctor coat on as she sprinted out of the hospital and towards her car.

She had a lot to say to the brunette, and no it cannot wait any longer.

* * *

 **Kindly R &R!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I didn't write this chapter based on any particular music piece, but listening to LR's OST, Epilogue, it sounds rather fitting to the calm after the storm. So...**

 **Music suggestion: LR: FFXIII OST - Epilogue**

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Lightning Returns – Where I Belong

Chapter 8 – Final Chapter

Lightning sped throughout the whole journey from her workplace right up to Fang and Vanille's shared home and came to a screeching halt, turning a 30 minutes drive into a 15 minutes drive only. Once she had stopped her car, she put the gear into park mode and pulled the hand break all in one swift movement before sliding out of her car then slamming the door shut and locking it. The pinkette then made a hasty beeline towards the front door and knocked on the door, hard. She did not intend it to be that hard, but with the emotions coursing through her right now she was having a slight slip of control. Within mere seconds, the door was swung opened to reveal the redhead whose cheeks can be seen tainted with trails of tears, though dried by now.

"Lightning! You're finally here, Fang's in there, go find her." Vanille said as she happily ushered the pinkette into the house and towards the living room where Fang was waiting, the redhead knew about Lightning's feelings for her foster sister through Serah and she was just as eager to get them together. Besides, she already knew how Lightning had been so worried and impatient waiting on Fang's return, so of course there should not be any more delays.

Lightning nodded curtly and took long strides towards the living room and stopped at the corridor when she finally saw the person that she had been missing very much and had been worrying day and night for her safety and return – Fang. The brunette sat on a couch while leaning back comfortably with her wrapped leg placed on top of the coffee table that was situated right in front of the couch. She was currently accompanied by Serah, Snow, and Hope who were seated near her. Lightning took in the details of the woman, her hair remained wild but a bit messier than usual, a swell was evident on her forehead on the right side, face covered with scratches whereas her arms and legs were covered in blisters. The confusing part to Lightning was the clothes that she was wearing, which seemed to actually be a patient's garb beneath the blue sari that she had haphazardly wrapped about her body. But all in all, it was _Fang_ , and she still looked absolutely amazing to Lightning even though her current attire looked ludicrous.

Fang finally noticed the pinkette standing at the corridor and she could not contain her smile at seeing the person that she had missed very dearly during the whole ordeal. She tried to stand but then Lightning immediately hurried over to her side and stopped her in her actions by pressing a down gently on the brunette's shoulder. Fang looked up at Lightning and the pinkette met her emerald eyes with her own turquoise ones, how she missed these pair of perfect eyes that described the pinkette's discipline and unwavering determination. The two continued on gazing at each other for a while longer before Fang broke the silence first.

"Well, no hugs?" Fang broke the quiet, somewhat awkward yet at ease kind of atmosphere with a tease, while her lips curved into her signature, charming grin.

Lightning narrowed her eyes to dangerous slits as she eyed that teasing behaviour of the brunette, and then she started sternly, "I'd like to talk to you, Fang… alone."

Everyone froze in their positions upon hearing that, each looking to one another hesitantly as to what action should be taken. The following statement coming from Lightning then cleared their hesitancy, "I'd like to borrow your room for us to talk conveniently." She demanded.

Fang's eyebrows rose with surprise at the bluntness and she pursed her lips slightly, feeling slightly anxious as she was unknowing as to what the pinkette's intentions were. But judging from the way Lightning demanded things and the stern demeanour, she was probably in for something bad rather than good… Perhaps a long lecture on safety. "Sure… but I'd need some help getting there, mind giving me a hand?" She asked with a sheepish smile as she held out a hand towards the pinkette.

Lightning eyed the hand for a bit before gently taking hold of it, being extremely careful not to hurt the brunette in any way. She first helped Fang up onto her feet, and then a surprising action following from the pinkette caused everyone to either gasp or have their mouths hanging opened at the sight. Fang herself was one of them who gasped and had her mouth agape with surprise written throughout her features.

The pinkette had swept Fang off of her feet and carried her in bridal style, which explained the surprise. Once she had steadied herself with the brunette in her arms, she looked to Fang who was still looking every bit surprised at her, causing herself to blush slightly, "Directions." She demanded softly.

Fang gulped and she blushed lightly, embarrassed at the sudden and unlikely contact as well as the eyes on them. "Ah… that way, up the stairs." She pointed in a particular direction.

Lightning nodded slightly and then headed off in the direction where Fang had pointed and then disappeared up the stairs, leaving the remaining group with awe written all over their faces behind. Awhile later, the two sisters cheered and squealed happily.

*Fang's Room*

Lightning entered the room and headed straight towards the bed to place Fang down onto it gently. After that, she headed back for the door to close it and then proceeded to locking it with the intention of not allowing any disturbances to be interrupting the two of them from this point of time onwards as they talked. Now was the time for her to speak her mind, speak her thoughts, just like how she remembered Serah saying: why wait, and risk losing it for the future holds uncertainty? Lightning had been worrying like hell and had been dying for Fang to return safely, which was why after having gone through those horrible days, she was not going to wait any longer and give regret the chance to haunt her. _Seize the moment_ , Lightning thought to herself.

Fang on the other hand, seemed to be thinking somewhat differently as she gawked openly and had a blush on her face. Suddenly, she felt the room seemed to have increased a couple degrees Celsius higher. The brunette gulped nervously as she wondered what the pinkette was attempting to do.

Lightning turned around with a frown on her face as she crossed her arms disapprovingly while she walked over to the brunette, her piercing eyes never leaving Fang's, "You know you're in deep trouble, right?" She questioned sternly.

At that question coupled with that tone, all of Fang's possibly _sensual_ thoughts left her immediately as she addressed the pinkette seriously. "Me? Why'd you say that?" She asked with a bewildered frown.

Lightning stared on for a while longer, causing Fang to feel slightly uneasy under the scrutiny. "You sure you've no idea what you've done wrong?" She questioned again, this time even sterner.

Fang's bewildered frown only continued to deepen at the question, clearly clueless as to what the pinkette was indicating to, "I… I really have no idea, Light." She answered honestly.

The pinkette pursed her lips disapprovingly and a small frown appeared, "Remember what you promised me?" Lightning asked, softer this time.

Fang was stunned for a moment before realisation hit her, and she made a silent 'oh' as a response. "Ah right… Light I'm sorry, I would have gotten back in two weeks time if everything had went smoothly. You've no idea how much I wanted to be back here." _Just to see and be with you again._ Fang silently added to her sentence in her head.

"And you think a sorry would cut it? After putting me through that horrible 13 days?" Lightning stated coldly and then she eyed the brunette's empty hands, a thought suddenly striking her, "And you even returned empty-handed on my birthday." She said, and then there was a twitch in the corner of her lips.

Fang however, did not notice the twitch and genuinely believed that the pinkette was angry at her for breaking the promise and not getting her a birthday present. Out of nervousness and helplessness, Fang apologised timidly, "I'm sorry… what would you like as a gift and what can I do to make it up to you?" Her head dropped down guiltily as she asked with sincerity heavily laced in her voice with an aim to please the woman, not wanting the pinkette to stay mad at her.

At that point, Lightning's lips twitched and they turned into an amused smile at the display before her. She walked towards the brunette and stopped right in front of her, then a hand came up to hold Fang's chin gently and then lifted her head, earning a surprised look from the brunette and Fang could feel her heartbeat skipping a beat when the pinkette looked into her eyes, mischief and… love seemed to be in place. "You as a gift would be nice." She said as her eyes dropped to the brunette's lips, "And this will make it up to me." Lightning finished and then closed the distance between them, leaning in until her lips were met with Fang's soft, warm lips.

Fang's eyes widened with surprise at the sudden and extremely unexpected contact, but she welcomed it nonetheless after realisation hit her and she immediately returned the kiss, not wanting to waste another second after having waited for this moment for a long time now. A hand snaked around the pinkette's waist while another gently held her neck, pulling Lightning firmly against her. Lightning groaned softly as Fang deepened the kiss, and she parted her mouth slightly as Fang licked across her lips and prodded at her lips, demanding entry. After what felt like forever for the two women, they pulled apart slightly with their foreheads still touching as they both gasped for air. Fang then looked into Lightning's eyes contently and smiled lovingly, all feelings of love and want clearly evident in the brunette's vibrant emerald eyes. Lightning's own turquoise eyes held the same sort of feelings for the brunette and they could be easily deciphered by the woman, and just like Fang, a bright smile graced her own lips.

"I thought you said you wanted to 'talk' to me?" Fang smirked as her hands held the pinkette by her sides protectively and affectionately.

Lightning hummed, "Would you rather have me _talking_ instead of _that_?" She asked with a raised knowing eyebrow accompanied by a smirk.

Fang chuckled, "Of course not Sunshine, I would _love_ to have that anytime over talking. I believe mouths can be put to better use than just talking between us, don't you agree?" She said teasingly as she wrapped her arms around the pinkette's waist while looking up at with a silly, yet charming grin.

Lightning's eyes dropped down to the brunette's lips alluringly and she bit her lower lip slightly, "I agree, for now. But we still have a lot to talk about after this." The pinkette leaned in again to kiss her gently on the lips, "And you'd damn better not go on another expedition without me giving you the permission." She said sternly as she pulled away.

"Oh? Why?" Fang asked with a smirk, knowing full well what the answer would be, but it was still nice listening to Lightning being honest. Besides, it had been quite some time since she had a little fun teasing the pinkette.

Lightning shot her a glare, "Because you're mine now, you've to think about me when you attempt things."

Fang chuckled at the response, "And what if I don't listen to you?"

The pinkette's glare turned into one of mischief and a smirk made its way to her lips, "… I'll have to think of ways to punish you then." She said with a low, husky tone.

The brunette raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't sound like discouragement to me based on the way you're putting it."

"Don't get your hopes up, you might be in for a real good punishment if you do wander off onto another expedition without my approval. I've been worrying sick over you." Lightning said this time with a sterner expression as she crossed her arms disapprovingly.

Fang laughed, which sounded like music to Lightning's ears. It had been so long since Lightning last heard the brunette's smooth, melodic voice, and her favourite was her laugh, husky and soothing at the same time. Now that Fang was finally back, Lightning found herself much more relaxed as compared to when the brunette was not around and most importantly, she found herself genuinely happy. After she had told – or more like showed – Fang how she felt towards her and now ended up with her, Lightning felt a part of her feeling genuinely content, as if her life seemed to be complete now that Fang was with her, and she with Fang. Speaking of which, now that she felt more relaxed and all worries gone, tiredness seemed to have seeped in as she felt her eyelids heavy all of a sudden, and a yawn successfully escaped as well.

Eyeing the yawn, Fang smiled at the adorable pinkette as a hand came to caress the woman's face, "Sleepy?" She asked warmly.

Lightning nodded lightly, "Haven't been sleeping much thanks to you." She said as she leaned into the brunette's touch.

Fang hummed understandingly and shifted, "Alright then, let's get some sleep together, I'll be right beside you so that you'd feel at ease, yea?" She said with a smile as she patted the bed.

The pinkette looked at the brunette with half-lidded eyes and nodded lightly at the suggestion, sleep really sounded good right now, and sleeping _with_ Fang sounded like a whole level of good to experience too. "Sounds like a plan…" She said as she stood and then gently lifted Fang's splinted leg onto the mattress, then allowing Fang to slowly shift to the inner side of the bed on her own pace. When the brunette was done, Lightning removed her doctor's coat and left it piled on the floor before she climbed up onto the bed and then laid beside Fang, shifting a little here and there until she found the right spot on her side while facing Fang. Somehow, being able to see Fang lying beside her felt good, it felt nice and complete, as if a long lost puzzle had just been fitted into a picture which now made it whole. Lightning realised she was wrong before, Fang did not simply belong in her house, in this moment here, she realised that Fang belonged to her rather than to a particular place, because whenever Fang was with her, Lightning could feel the sense of belongingness, and she felt that she belonged to Fang just the same.

In Fang's head, she was thinking just the same thing, she had never felt that belongingness in a long time ever since Oerba was taken away from her. Now, she had found where she belonged as well, and she was sure as hell sticking with Lightning till death do them part. Smiling, she slipped a hand underneath Lightning's neck and pulled her close into a warm side embrace, "I've been waiting for a long time to say this to you." She whispered softly at the pinkette who had shifted in closer to her lover.

"Hmm?" Lightning hummed softly, feeling sleep starting to take over her consciousness.

"I love you." Fang confessed, sincerity, love, and the determination to stay regardless of whatever happenings were soundly evident in her voice.

Lightning smiled at the confession while her eyes remained closed, "You'd damn better well be." She responded.

Fang lifted her head slightly to look at the pinkette who was sleeping on her arm, "And what does that mean?" She asked with a puzzled eyebrow raised.

Lightning peeled her eyes open and looked into Fang's eyes, genuine love and the same determination displayed by Fang were evident in her eyes as she conveyed her answer soundly through her windows of soul. She smiled and then a hand came up to rest on the brunette's shoulder, hugging her close as she answered, "It means… I love you too, Fang."

Fang's face was then brightened up with a huge smile on her face, feeling extremely contented with the answer. She kissed the pinkette gently on the forehead before dropping her head down onto the pillow and hugging her lover close and protectively. "Now that's what I call 'love is in the air'." She said with a grin as she closed her eyes, feeling sleep slowly taking over.

 _I supposed my new journey has just begun._ Lightning silently thought in her head and smiled blissfully.

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 **I hope you enjoyed this one! Spent an entire month focusing on this because I really wanted this story to be materialised rather than just sitting in my head, finally a small goal achieved by finishing this. Let me know what you all think about this one-shot, though it's probably a bit lengthy and perhaps there are some sentence structure and grammatical errors, I wish to know if any of you enjoyed reading this regardless of these errors (Which I'll continue to improve in my future writings)!**

 **I'm considering an epilogue to this "post-epilogue ending"-based story, so if the response is good, I might consider continuing it a little more and give it a very happy ( & lovely) ending. ;)**

 **Kindly R &R people!**

 **Add-on note: I've decided that this chapter is not final, follow this story to know the epilogue! :)**


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